St. James Park
English Pelican Says: "Feed Me Moar!!!"
St. James's Park is a 23 hectare (58 acre) park in Westminster, central London, the oldest of the Royal Parks of London. The park lies at the southernmost tip of the St. James's area, which was named after a leper hospital dedicated to St. James the Less.
Canada Geese Spoiling St. James Park, London
St. James's Park is bounded by Buckingham Palace to the west, The Mall and St. James's Palace to the North, Horse Guards to the east, and Birdcage Walk to the south. The park has a small lake, St. James's Park Lake, with two islands, Duck Island (named for the lake's collection of waterfowl), and West Island. A bridge across the lake affords a view of Buckingham Palace framed by trees and fountains, and a view of the main building of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, similarly framed, to the east.
Something Interesting in the Water, St. James Park, London
The park is the most easterly of a near-continuous chain of parks that also comprise (moving westward) Green Park, Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens. The closest London Underground stations are St. James's Park, Victoria, and Westminster.
London Eye in Distance, St. James Park
In 1532, Henry VIII purchased the area of swampy marshland, often flooded
by the Tyburn, from Eton College. This land lay to the West of York Place, recently
acquired by Henry from Cardinal Wolsey; it was purchased in order to turn York
Palace into a dwelling fit for a king. On James I's accession to the throne
in 1603, he ordered the park drained and landscaped, and kept exotic animals
in the park, including camels, crocodiles, and an elephant, as well as aviaries
of exotic birds along the south.
Lake in St. James Park, London, England
During Charles II's exile in France under the Commonwealth of England, the young king was impressed by the elaborate gardens at French royal palaces, and on his ascension had the park redesigned in a more formal style, probably by the French landscaper Andr? Mollet. This included the creation of the 775 by 38 metre (850 by 42 yard) canal visible in the old plan. Charles II opened the park to the public, as well as using the area to entertain guests and mistresses, such as Nell Gwyn. The park was notorious at the time as a meeting place for acts of degeneracy, of which John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester wrote in his poem A Ramble in St. James's Park.
Two Asian Women and Two Pigeons in St. James Park, London
The 18th century saw further changes, including the reclamation of part of the canal for Horse Guards Parade and the 1761 purchase of Buckingham House (now Buckingham Palace) at the west end of the Mall, for the use of Queen Charlotte.
St. James Park, London
Further remodelling in 1826?7, commissioned by the Prince Regent (later George IV) and overseen by the architect and landscaper John Nash, saw the straight canal's conversion to a more naturally-shaped lake, and formal avenues rerouted to romantic winding pathways. At the same time, Buckingham House was expanded to create the current palace and Marble Arch was built at its entrance, whilst The Mall was turned into a grand processional route, opened to public traffic 60 years later in 1887, the Marble Arch having been moved to its current location at the junction of Oxford Street and Park Lane in 1851 and replaced with the Victoria Memorial between 1906 and 1924.
Family at the railing in St. James Park, London
A more secluded area in St. James Park, London
St. James's Park Near Buckingham Palace
