St. James's Park

St. James's Park Review

With three palaces at its borders (the Palace of Westminster, the Tudor St. James's Palace, and Buckingham Palace), St. James's Park is acclaimed as the most royal of the royal parks. It's London's smallest, most ornamental park, as well as the oldest; once marshy water meadows, the land was acquired by Henry VIII in 1532 as a royal deer-hunting park (with dueling and sword fights forbidden); the public was always allowed access. James I improved the land and installed an aviary and zoo (complete with crocodiles). Charles II (after his exile in France, where he admired Louis XIV's formal Versailles Palace landscapes) had formal gardens laid out, with avenues, fruit orchards, and a canal. Lawns were grazed by goats, sheep, and deer, and in the 18th century the park became a different kind of hunting ground, for wealthy lotharios looking to pick up nighttime escorts. In the early 19th century John Nash redesigned the landscape in a more naturalistic, romantic style, and if you gaze down the lake toward Buckingham Palace, you can believe you are on a country estate.

A large population of water fowl—including pelicans, geese, ducks, and swans (which belong to the Queen)—breed on and around Duck Island at the east end of the lake, while well-fed squirrels hop about on the grass. From April to September, the deck chairs (charge levied) come out for the longer days, crammed with office workers lunching while being serenaded by music from the bandstands. One of the best times to stroll the leafy walkways is after dark, with Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament rising above the floodlighted lake. The popular Inn the Park restaurant is a wood-and-glass pavilion with a turf roof that blends in beautifully with the surrounding landscape; it's a good stopping place for a meal or a snack on a nice day.