St James's Park

23-hectare park in the City of Westminster, central London

St James’s Park is the oldest Royal Park in London and is surrounded by three palaces. The most ancient is Westminster, St James’s Palace and of course, the best known, Buckingham Palace

The park was once a marshy watermeadow. In the thirteenth century a leper hospital was founded, and it is from this hospital that the park took its name. In 1532 Henry VIII acquired the site as yet another deer park and built the Palace of St James’s

On James I’s accession to the throne in 1603, he ordered that the park be drained and landscaped, and exotic animals were kept in the park, including camels, crocodiles, an elephant and exotic birds, kept in aviaries

St James’s Park is the most easterly of a near-continuous chain of parks that includes (moving westward) Green Park, Hyde Park, and Kensington Gardens

Buckingham House was expanded to create the palace, and Marble Arch was built at its entrance, whilst The Mall was turned into a grand processional route. It opened to public traffic 60 years later in 1887

Flora of
St. James’s Park

Plane trees

The majority of trees in the park are Plane trees, which can be seen running alongside The Mall, Birdcage Walk and Horse Guards Parade. Planes are known for their flaking bark and their resistance to pollution

Other species in the park include
the Scarlet Oak tree, the Black Mulberry tree and Fig trees, which border the lake itself

Fancy a visit?

Lake with Buckingham Palace

St James's Park is open from 5am to midnight all year round
Address: SW1A 2BJ, London, UK

Duck Island Cottage

Heron

Spring trees

Park Fountain

Feeding time

The project is for educational purposes and is not a commercial project