Description
St James's Park is one of London's most central royal parks: 23 hectares of lawns, flowerbeds and a long lake between Buckingham Palace and Horse Guards, in the City of Westminster. It is the eastern end of a chain of parks running to Kensington Gardens.
The lake, with its two islands, is the heart of the park, and its birds are the main attraction. Waterfowl live on Duck Island, and a colony of pelicans has lived here since the 17th century.
The best view is from the Blue Bridge, across the lake. West, framed by trees, stands Buckingham Palace. East, the lake opens toward the Swire Fountain and the grounds of Horse Guards Parade, with the Old War Office and Whitehall Court behind.
Beyond, the skyline mixes old and new: the London Eye and the Shard rise past the lake, behind the Foreign Office. Two fountains, the Swire and the Tiffany, decorate the water. London plane trees and a black mulberry give shade.
The park also has a playground with a large sandpit, and the Mall along its north side, the processional route to the palace. It meets Green Park at the Victoria Memorial, opposite the palace gates.
Pelicans have lived here since 1664, when a Russian ambassador gave some to Charles II. They are not entirely peaceful guests: now and then one catches and swallows a pigeon. In 2026, for the first time in the park's history, they hatched chicks.
In 1532 Henry VIII bought this marshland to hunt deer, next to his palace of Whitehall. James I drained it and filled it with exotic animals: camels, crocodiles, an elephant, birds in aviaries.
Charles II, back from exile in France, wanted gardens like the French kings' and dug a long straight canal. He opened the park to the public and strolled here with his mistresses, Nell Gwyn among them. The park soon became notorious for less royal encounters.
In the 1820s John Nash turned the canal into a lake with winding paths. Duck Island, in the middle, once even hid a Scotland Yard bomb disposal store.
The lake, with its two islands, is the heart of the park, and its birds are the main attraction. Waterfowl live on Duck Island, and a colony of pelicans has lived here since the 17th century.
The best view is from the Blue Bridge, across the lake. West, framed by trees, stands Buckingham Palace. East, the lake opens toward the Swire Fountain and the grounds of Horse Guards Parade, with the Old War Office and Whitehall Court behind.
Beyond, the skyline mixes old and new: the London Eye and the Shard rise past the lake, behind the Foreign Office. Two fountains, the Swire and the Tiffany, decorate the water. London plane trees and a black mulberry give shade.
The park also has a playground with a large sandpit, and the Mall along its north side, the processional route to the palace. It meets Green Park at the Victoria Memorial, opposite the palace gates.
Pelicans have lived here since 1664, when a Russian ambassador gave some to Charles II. They are not entirely peaceful guests: now and then one catches and swallows a pigeon. In 2026, for the first time in the park's history, they hatched chicks.
In 1532 Henry VIII bought this marshland to hunt deer, next to his palace of Whitehall. James I drained it and filled it with exotic animals: camels, crocodiles, an elephant, birds in aviaries.
Charles II, back from exile in France, wanted gardens like the French kings' and dug a long straight canal. He opened the park to the public and strolled here with his mistresses, Nell Gwyn among them. The park soon became notorious for less royal encounters.
In the 1820s John Nash turned the canal into a lake with winding paths. Duck Island, in the middle, once even hid a Scotland Yard bomb disposal store.