St. James's Park
British Museum Cabinet War Rooms Canary Wharf Chelsea Physic Garden Chinatown London Covent Garden Market Eltham Palace Gotheborg Ship Hampton Court Household Cavalry HMS Belfast Kensington Gardens Kew Gardens London Aquarium London Zoo Maritime Greenwich Natural History Museum Palace Mews River Cruise St. James's Park St. Pancras Station Shakespeare's Globe Theatre Sherlock Hlomes Museum Somerset House Thames Barrier The London Eye Tower Bridge Experience Tower of London Transport Museum Windsor Castle	The thumbnails below are linked to larger pictures St. James's Park is a Royal Park, considered by many as the most beautiful and romantic of the Capital's central parks. The area now covered by the park was originally a swamp, subject to flooding by the Tyburn stream which still flows through the lake. The land was drained by Henry VIII in the 15th century to provide a deer park for St. James's palace. Two centuries later Charles II had the 40 hectares converted into a garden including a long canal containing geese, pelicans and waterfowl which are still here today. The Park was completely redesigned by John Nash in 1828, in the English landscape style. The contouring of the lake produces notable views from the new central bridge constructed in 1956, across to Buckingham Palace in one direction and to The Horse Guards and Whitehall rooftops in the other. The lake is now a wildfowl sanctuary with Duck Island providing a home for the birds. As well as tourists the park is also popular with office workers who jog, stroll, eat a picnic lunch and listen to the band in the summer. Why not also visit the Cabinet War Rooms alongside the park, or the Palace Mews (see separate pages). *Link to official site for viewing Visitor Information* St James's Flower Displays June 2007