St James's is a central district in the
City of Westminster, London, forming part of the
West End. The area was once part of the northwestern gardens and parks of
St. James's Palace. During
the Restoration in the 17th century, the area was developed as a residential location for the
British aristocracy, and around the 19th century was the focus of the development of their
gentlemen's clubs. Once part of the parish of
St Martin in the Fields, much of it formed the parish of
St James from 1685 to 1922. Since the
Second World War the area has transitioned from residential to commercial use.
The section of
Regent Street (colloquially known as 'Lower Regent Street') that runs between Waterloo Place and
Piccadilly Circus has been officially renamed 'Regent Street St James's'.
St James's was in the
ancient parish of St Martin in the Fields in the
Liberty of Westminster. Attempts made in 1664, 1668 and 1670 to separate St James's from the parish were resisted by St Martin's
vestry.[6] The building of
St James's Church, Piccadilly in 1684 forced the issue, and a new parish of
St James within the Liberty of Westminster was created in 1685. The parish stretched from
Oxford Street in the north to
Pall Mall in the south.[7] It roughly corresponded to the contemporary St James's area, but extended into parts of
Soho and
Mayfair. Land south of Pall Mall remained in St Martin in the Fields' parish, and St James's Park was split between the parishes of St Martin and
St Margaret. St James's Palace was an
extra-parochial area and not part of any parish. A
select vestry was created for the new parish.
Crown Passage, a narrow street which splits off from Pall Mall opposite Marlborough House and is home to the Red Lion, one of the oldest
pubs in London's West End to still be in business.[11]
Haymarket was once the best-known centre of prostitution in London, but no trace remains of this part of its past. It contains two historic theatres: the
Haymarket Theatre and
Her Majesty's Theatre.
St James's Street, which runs down from Piccadilly to St James's Palace.
Street name etymologies
The following utilises the generally accepted boundaries of St James’s, viz. Piccadilly to the north, Haymarket and
Cockspur Street to the east, The Mall to the south and Queen's Walk to the west.
Cockspur Court and
Cockspur Street – unknown, though possibly after the
cock fighting that formerly occurred here, cocks often having spurs attached to their feet during fights[36]
Crown Passage – thought to be after a former tavern of this name[37]
Haymarket – site of a former market selling hay until the 1830s[39][40]
St James's Market, St James's Place,
St James's Square,
St James's Street and Little St James's Street – all from
St James's Palace,[41] built on the site of the medieval St James's leper hospital which was dedicated to St James the Less, apostle and Bishop of Jerusalem,[2][3] or, according to Sheila Fairfield, writing in The Streets of London (1983), to the other apostle
James, son of Zebedee[42]
Piccadilly, Piccadilly Arcade and
Piccadilly Circus – after Piccadilly Hall, home of local tailor Robert Baker in the 17th century, believed to be named after the
piccadills –cut-work lace trimming used for hems or fashionable broad collars of the 16th and 17th century– which made his fortune. Circus is a British term for an older-style circular road junction; it was laid out by John Nash in 1819[56][57]
Pickering Place – after William Pickering, local painter, stainer and grocer, who leased property here in the 1730s[58][59]
Princes Arcade – built 1929–1933, named after the former Prince's Hotel, which stood here[32]
St James's is a predominantly commercial area with some of the highest rents in London and, consequently, the world. The auction house
Christie's is based in King Street, and the surrounding streets contain many upmarket art and antique dealers including
Colnaghi,
Agnew's Gallery,
Moretti Fine Art,
Hazlitt, Gooden & Fox, Stoppenbach & Delestre Ltd,
The Sladmore Gallery and S Franses Ltd.
BP is headquartered in St James's.[75]
The area is home to fine wine merchants including
Berry Brothers and Rudd, at number 3 St James's Street. Adjoining St James's Street is Jermyn Street, famous for tailoring. Some famous cigar retailers are at 35 St James's Street, occupied by
Davidoff of London; J.J. Fox at 19 St James's Street and
Dunhill at 50 Jermyn St.
Shoemaker,
Wildsmith, designers of the first
loafer, was located at 41 Duke Street but is now at 13
Savile Row.
Art galleries catering for a spectrum of tastes occupy premises in the area. The
White Cube gallery, which represents
Damien Hirst and
Tracey Emin, opened in Duke Street before moving to
Hoxton Square. In September 2006, it opened a second gallery at 25–26 Mason's Yard, off Duke Street, on a plot previously occupied by an electricity substation. The gallery is the first free-standing building to be built in the area for more than 30 years.
Other notable modern and contemporary art dealers in the St James's area include
Helly Nahmad Gallery,
Paisnel Gallery, Bernard Jacobson Gallery, Thomas Dane, Whitford Fine Art and Panter & Hall.
St James's is home to many of the best known
gentlemen's clubs in London, and sometimes, though not as often as formerly, referred to as "Clubland".[76] The clubs are organisations of English high society. A variety of groups come together here, such as military officers, politicians, motoring enthusiasts, yachtsmen, and other groups. In 1990, the
Carlton Club, traditional meeting place for members of the
Conservative Party, was struck by an
IRA bomb.
Roffey, Simon (November 2012). "Medieval Leper Hospitals in England: An Archaeological Perspective". Medieval Archaeology. 56 (1): 203–233.
doi:
10.1179/0076609712Z.0000000007.
S2CID162392427. [Brief mention (only) of St James's Hospital for leprous women]. Some hospitals were perhaps more specific, such as St James the Less in London, which apparently just catered for leprous women."... "The hospital was later replaced in the 16th century by the Palace of St James. Excavations in the 1920s and 1990s revealed evidence for a 12th-century chapel on the site. Citing:
Greenwood, Pamela A; Maloney, Catharine (1995).
"London Fieldwork and Publication Round-up 1994". London Archaeologist. 7 (13): 333–354.
doi:10.5284/1070869. Retrieved 23 June 2023 – via Archaeology Data Service. St James's Palace, State Apartments, Pall Mall:... The earliest recorded deposits... both dated to the late 11th / early 12th c. They were succeeded by... a building ... identified as the leper hospital of St James the Less.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to St James's.
St James's 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).