St James Palace Architecture, Historic London Building, Pall Mall Property

St James Palace London

Key Historic Royal Building in the British Capital, England, UK: Architecture Information

page updated 4 Jul 2014

St James’s Palace

Pall Mall, central London
Date built: 1532
Built by Henry VIII

Birthplace of Charles II, James II, Mary II & George IV

Nearest Tube: Green Park

St James’s Palace (sometimes incorrectly spelled St James’ Palace) is one of London’s oldest palaces. It is situated in Pall Mall, just north of St James’s Park. Although no sovereign has resided there for almost two centuries, it has remained the official residence of the Sovereign and the most senior royal palace in the UK. For this reason it gives its name to the Royal Court (the “Court of St James’s”). It is the ceremonial gathering place of the Accession Council, which proclaims a new sovereign.

The palace was commissioned by Henry VIII, on the site of a former leper hospital dedicated to Saint James the Less, from which the palace and its nearby park retain their names; the hospital was disbanded in 1532. The new palace, secondary in the king’s interest to Henry’s Whitehall Palace, was constructed between 1531 and 1536 in the red-brick Tudor style around four courtyards: its gatehouse (illustration) survives on the north side, flanked by polygonal turrets with mock battlements, fitted with Georgian sash windows.
Source: wikipedia

Location: Pall Mall, London, England, UK

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St James Square London

Syon Park Conservatory
Syon Park
photo © Nick Weall

10 Palace Gate
10 Palace Gate
photo © Nick Weall

Royal Palaces in London

Buckingham Palace
The Mall, SW1
London Palace of HM Queen Elizabeth II
Built by the Duke of Birmingham in 1703
Buckingham Palace purchased in 1761 by George III
Buckingham Palace
photo © webbaviation
Buckingham Palace

Hampton Court Palace
Hampton, Middlesex
Largest and grandest of England’s Tudor Palaces
Built by Cardinal Wolsey in 1515

Hampton Court Orangery

Christopher Wren

Hampton Court Maze
Accessible in summer by boat from Westminster
Nearest Tube: Hampton Court, from Waterloo
Hampton Court Palace: 020 8781 9500

Kensington Palace
west London
Christopher Wren
Birthplace of Queen Victoria
State Apartments & Court Dress Collection
Nearest Tube: High St Kensington
Kensington Palace: 020 7937 9561

St James Palace

London Buildings

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