Henry VIII Created A Royal Deer Park

Before it was a famous public garden, St James's Park served as a private deer hunting ground for King Henry VIII. He enclosed the marshy area in the 1530s to create a royal escape near his Palace of Whitehall.

It is fascinating to realize that this lush urban oasis began as a hunting space for royalty. The name comes from a medieval hospital that once stood on the site before the King transformed the landscape. Today, it stands as the eastern anchor in a magnificent chain of famous parks across London. Seeing deer grazing in what is now a bustling city center would have been a normal sight for the Tudor court.