A resident colony of pelicans has been a feature of the park since 1664

Nestled in the heart of London, St. James's Park is today a serene urban escape, yet its royal moniker reflects a complex history. In 1532, King Henry VIII purchased an area of marshland from Eton College to turn Whitehall into a dwelling fit for a king. He enclosed the park for deer hunting and built St James's Palace to serve as his hunting lodge. By the time James I took the throne in 1603, the park was drained and landscaped, and exotic animals including camels, crocodiles, an elephant, and exotic birds were kept in aviaries.

Upon his ascension, Charles II had the park redesigned in a more formal style, probably by the French landscaper André Mollet. This era saw the creation of an ornamental canal and opened the park to the public, where it became a meeting place for impromptu acts of lechery. A resident colony of pelicans has been a feature of the park since a Russian ambassador donated them to Charles II in 1664. The birds remain today, with a colony that occasionally hunts other birds in the park.

The 18th century brought further changes, including the reclamation of part of the canal for Horse Guards Parade and the purchase of Buckingham House in 1761 for the use of Queen Charlotte. Later, John Nash designed a Chinese-style bridge and a seven-storey pagoda across the canal, though the pagoda caught fire during a firework display and the bridge survived until 1825. In 1826-27, the Prince Regent commissioned Nash to convert the canal into a more naturally-shaped lake and create romantic winding pathways.

By 1887, The Mall was turned into a grand processional route and opened to public traffic. Today, the park features a small lake with two islands, West Island and Duck Island. Visitors can see the Blue Bridge across the lake, which affords a tree-framed view west towards Buckingham Palace, and the Swire Fountain to the north of Duck Island. The park's landscape includes species of trees such as London planes, Scarlet oak, black mulberry, and a fig tree.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons