St James's Park

Originally a marsh, the land where St James's Park now lies was drained by Henry VIII in the 15th century to provide a deer park for St James's Palace. In the 17th century, Charles II commissioned a French landscape gardener, André Le Nôtre, to convert the deer park into a garden. Charles II also had an aviary built along the southern edge of the park, hence Birdcage Walk, the street where the aviary was located.

St James's Park is now the most ornamental park in London with good views of Whitehall rooftops, St James's Park is a beautiful place to stroll, feed the ducks or watch the pelicans.

The lake is a wildlfowl sanctuary, with ducks, geese, pelicans and black swans. The bridge over the lake gives great views of Buckingham Palace to the West and Horse Guards Parade to the East.