Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
St James's Park
St James's Park
is the oldest of London's royal parks, having been drained and turned
into a deer park by Henry VIII. It was redesigned and opened to the public by Charles II,
who used to stroll through the grounds with his mistresses and courtiers, feed the ducks
and
even take a dip in the canal. By the eighteenth century, when some 6500 people
had access to night keys for the gates, the park had become something of a byword for
robbery and prostitution: diarist James Boswell was among those who went there
specifically to be accosted “by several ladies of the town”. The park's current landscaping
was devised by Nash in the 1820s in an elegant style that established a blueprint for later
Victorian city parks.
Today, the banks of the tree-lined lake are a favourite picnic spot for the civil servants
of Whitehall and an inner-city reserve for wildfowl. James I's two crocodiles have left
no descendants, alas, but the pelicans (which have resided here ever since a pair was
presented to Charles II by the Russian ambassador) can still be seen at the eastern end of
the lake, and there are exotic ducks, swans and geese aplenty. From the bridge across the
lake there's a fine view over to Westminster and the jumble of domes and pinnacles along
Whitehall - even the dull east facade of
Buckingham Palace
looks majestic from here.
2
The Mall
!
St James's Park, Charing Cross or Westminster
The tree-lined sweep of
The Mall
- London's nearest equivalent to a Parisian boulevard
(minus the cafés) - is at its best on Sundays, when it's closed to tra
c. It was laid out
in the first decade of the twentieth century as a memorial to Queen Victoria, and runs
along the northern edge of St James's Park. The bombastic
Admiralty Arch
(currently
being converted into a hotel) was erected to mark the entrance at the Trafalgar Square
end of The Mall, while at the other end stands the ludicrous
Victoria Memorial
,
Edward VII's overblown 2300-ton marble tribute to his mother:
Motherhood
and
Justice
keep Victoria company around the plinth, which is topped by a gilded statue
of
Victory
, while the six outlying allegorical groups in bronze confidently proclaim
the great achievements of her reign.
The Mall's most distinctive building is John Nash's
Carlton House Terrace
, whose
graceful, cream-coloured Regency facade lines the north side of The Mall from
Admiralty Arch. Among other things, it serves as the unlikely home of the
Institute of
Contemporary Arts
or
ICA
(Wed noon-11pm, hurs-Sat noon-1am, Sun noon-9pm;
free;
T
020 7930 3647,
W
ica.org.uk), London's of
cial headquarters of the avant-garde,
so to speak, which moved here in 1968 and has put on a programme of regularly
provocative exhibitions, films, talks and performances ever since. A little further down
the terrace, there are statues of George VI, erected in 1955, and his wife, the Queen
Mum, erected in 2009 but depicted at the age she would have been when her husband
died - on either side bronze reliefs depict the couple visiting the East End during the
Blitz and having a day out at the races.
Wellington Barracks, Guards' Chapel and Museum
Birdcage Walk • Museum Daily 10am-4pm • £5 •
T
020 7414 3271,
W
theguardsmuseum.com •
!
St James's Park
Named after James I's aviary, which once stood here, Birdcage Walk runs along the
south side of St James's Park, with the Neoclassical facade of the
Wellington Barracks
,
built in 1833 and fronted by a parade ground,
occupying more than half its length.
Of the various buildings here it's the modernist lines of the
Guards' Chapel
that come
as the biggest surprise. Hit by a V1 rocket bomb on the morning of Sunday, June 18,
1944 - killing 121 worshippers - the chapel was rebuilt in the 1960s. Inside, it's
festooned with faded military flags, and retains the ornate Victorian apse, with
Byzantine-style gilded mosaics, from the old chapel.
In a bunker opposite is the
Guards' Museum
, which displays the glorious scarlet-and-
blue uniforms of the Queen's Foot Guards (see p.48). The museum also explains the
