aint James's Park is one of the London Royal Parks. It has been surrounded for a lot of years by three palaces: Westminster in the East, which now is the Houses of Parliament, St James's Palace in the Northwest and Buckingham Palace, which is the residence of her majesty the Queen, in the West.
This park has undergone a lot of changes during its history and now it is smaller than centuries ago. For example, nowadays there are some buildings between Westminster palace and Saint James's Park. It drastically changed in a romantic style in 1826–27 when the Prince Regent George (later George IV) ordered it to the architect and landscaper John Nash. He converted the canal in a more natural lake, more strange and sophisticated trees were added and romantic winding pathways were built. In 1837 the Ornithological Society of London established some birds in the park and a cute cottage for the birdkeeper was created.
Nowadays the cottage and the birdkeeper position are still a reality. The lake has two islands, West Island, and Duck Island which resides a group of pelicans. There is a bridge across the lake which is called the Blue bridge. If you look to the East, you will see the Horse Guards building and the Old War Office building. If you look to the south of Duck Island, you will see Tiffany's fountain over Pelican Rock.
DESTINATION OF THE MONTH
SAINT JAMES'S PARK
S
Saint James's Park is the oldest Royal Park and it was also the first one opened to the public. The last statistics said that around 5.5 million people visit this park every year and it is one of the most known, visited and famous in Europe. The lake is the perfect environment for a wide range of birds. The variety of wildlife is simply amazing.
The trees which you can see in this wonderful park are unlikely to be older than John Nash's re-landscaping. The majority of trees are Plane trees which are known for their flaking bark and their strong resistance to pollution. Other species famous species in the park are the Scarlet Oak Tree (Quercus coccinea) and the Black Mulberry Tree (Morus nigra).
4