St. James's Park in London

Looking at the tourists feeding the greedy geese, quacking ducks and bossy pigeons in St. James’s Park it is hard to imagine a time when a burgundy-drinking elephant was kept there.  True. King James I had a menagerie in the park which housed the animals too large to be kept at the Tower of London (then a zoo). The elephant was given a gallon of burgundy a day to keep its spirits high. An alcoholic pachyderm?

As visitors to London know, most of the wonderful green spaces are the Royal Parks: St. James’s, Regents, Green, Hyde and Kensington Gardens. What many don’t know is that the land was originally owned by the church - in one form or another. St. James’s belonged to the Abbey of Westminster and was a leper colony. Hyde Park, originally known as the Manor of Hyde, also belonged to the Abbey of Westminster. Regents Park was owned by the Abbey of Barking. 

Then along came Henry VIII and the Dissolution. Henry enclosed the areas and had some of them made into hunting grounds. It was King Charles II who opened the parks to the public. He loved flora and fauna and had Andre le Notre advise with the redesigning of the layout of St. James’s Park. This is when The Mall made its appearance. Not as an approach road to Buckingham Palace which didn’t then exist. Pall-mall was a game similar to croquet which the King enjoyed playing and had the ground laid out here. 

It wasn’t unusual to see the King in the park – walking his dogs and feeding the ducks. It was he who stocked the lake with the more exotic species. I don’t know if the pelicans are direct descendants, but in 1666 the Russian Ambassador gave the King a pair. 

And Samuel Pepys is reputed to have done what many of us do today. He would lie on the grass by the lake and have a snooze. One thing which I am sure the King didn’t do when the general public was around is to swim in the nude. Oh yes, he did! 

As St. James’s Park was open to the public Charles II enclosed Green Park so that it could be used for royal picnics.  And Green Park is the place where Handel’s Music for the Royal Fireworks was first played. In 1749 the Temple of Peace was constructed to celebrate the end of the War of Succession. It was destroyed by the fireworks as Handel’s music was playing. A celebratory night that went with a bang. [Sorry!!!]