St. James's
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
St James's is an area of central London in the City of Westminster. It is bounded to the north by Piccadilly, to the west by Green Park, to the south by The Mall and St James's Park and to the east by The Haymarket.
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[edit] History
St James's was once part of the same royal park as Green Park and St. James's Park. In the 1660s, Charles II gave the right to develop the area to Henry Jermyn, 1st Earl of St Albans, who proceeded to develop it as a predominantly aristocratic residential area with a grid of streets centred on St James's Square.
Until the Second World War, St James's remained one of the most exclusive residential enclaves in London. Famous residences in St James's include St James's Palace, Clarence House, Marlborough House, Lancaster House, Spencer House, Schomberg House and Bridgewater House. It is now a predominantly commercial area with some of the highest rents in London and, consequently, the world. Corporate offices in St James's include the global headquarters of BP and Rio Tinto Group. The auction house Christie's is based in King Street, and the surrounding streets contain a great many upmarket art and antique dealers.
St James's is also the home of many of the best known gentlemen's clubs in London, and is sometimes, though not as often as formerly, referred to as "Clubland". The "clubs" found here are organisations of English high society. A variety of groups congregate here, such as: royals, military officers, motoring enthusiasts, and other groups. In 1990, the Carlton Club, traditional meeting place for members of the Conservative Party, was struck by an IRA bomb. See List of London's gentlemen's clubs. In a similar vein, the area is also home to fine wine merchants Justerini and Brooks and Berry Brothers and Rudd, at numbers 61 and 3 St James's Street respectively. Adjoining St James's Street is Jermyn Street, famous for its many tailors. St James's is also famous for being home to some of the most famous cigar retailers in London. At 35 St James's Street is Davidoff of London, 19 St James's Street is home to J.J. Fox and 50 Jermyn St has Dunhill; this makes the area a Cuban cigar haven.
The area has a good number of art galleries, covering a spectrum of tastes. The White Cube gallery, which represents Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin, had originally opened in Duke Street, St James's, then moved to Hoxton Square. In September 2006, it opened a second gallery in St James's at 25–26 Mason's Yard, off Duke Street, on a plot previously occupied by an electricity sub-station. The gallery, designed by MRJ Rundell & Associates, is the first free-standing building to be built in the St James's area for more than 30 years.
[edit] Notable streets
These include:
- St James's Square, which retains many of its original houses, but mostly in office use. The London Library is located here.
- Jermyn Street, an upmarket retail street best known for fine shirts.
- Pall Mall, which contains many of London's gentlemen's clubs.
- The Haymarket, once the best known centre of prostitution in London, but no trace of this remains now. Contains two of London's most historic theatres, the Haymarket Theatre and Her Majesty's Theatre.
- Carlton House Terrace, a pair of grand terraces of houses designed by John Nash overlooking St James's Park.
- St James's Street which runs down from Piccadilly to St James's Palace.
[edit] Education
- For education in St. James's see the main City of Westminster article.
[edit] External links
- St James Westminster, Part 1 - a volume of the Survey of London which provides a very detailed architectural history of most of St James's. However a few sections of the parish of St James's fall outside the district, so they are omitted (map).
- Map of St James's and surrounding areas
- Clubland at Virtual London
- Tourist Information on St James's
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