R10 - Piccadilly Circus to Green Park - 2.1 km - Across London Visual Marathon (Part 10/14)
- philip carey
- Jan 26, 2023
- 7 min read
Updated: Dec 22, 2024
Start at Piccadilly Circus Station
Finish at Green Park Station
THE EXPERIENCE
Sauntering around Royal Courts, Parks, Clubs and Royal Palaces
This route takes you from Piccadilly Circus to Green Park, past two royal palaces, two royal parks, and famous London landmarks. This area was once known as the Court of St James and served the royal St James’s Palace at the end of Pall Mall and later Buckingham Palace. The route is lined with fine examples of English architecture, wide streets and grand buildings leading to the royal palaces and their adjoining gardens – St James’s Park and Green Park.
This route is great for history, iconic sights, hotels, , parks and gardens, Changing of the Guards, Royal Palaces, private clubs, historic monuments and a few places to eat, drink and be merry.
MUST SEE PLACES
What to See List
1 Piccadilly Circus
2 Leicester Square
3 Piccadilly and Jermyn Street
4 Waterloo Place
5 Pall Mall and St James’s Square
6 St James’s Palace
7 The Mall
8 St James’s Park
9 Changing of the Guards
10 Buckingham Palace
11 Green Park
12 Shepherd Market
Areas to Eat, Drink and Be Merry
There are not many places to eat and drink along this route, except at the start around Piccadilly Circus and Lower Regent Street, along St James's Street, and towards the end along Piccadilly, near Green Park. There are others a little further away in Shepherd Market to the west and Soho to the east.
BEST TIME
Morning—This route is usually quite apart from the beginning and the end. The best time to do this route is on weekends in the early morning when the lighting is at its best and few people are around.
Day - This route can be crowded at the start and end.
Evenings - Quieter in most places, except for Piccadilly Circus and around Green Park Station.
ROUTE OVERVIEW
This 2.1 Km route begins at Piccadilly Circus and heads down Lower Regent Street to Waterloo Places before turning west along Pall Mall past the imposing private member's clubs and the palatial St James’s Palace. The route turns down into the Mall before making its way to Buckingham Palace, the King's royal residence, before heading across Green Park to Green Park Station on Piccadilly.
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DESCRIPTIVE PHOTO GALLERY
This gallery provides a descriptive and visual reference to many sights along this route. Use the Google Map above to find their location. Double-click to see the image in full size.
VIRTUAL TOUR OF THE AREA
Click on the picture below to go on a 360 virtual tour of the shopping areas and have a look around.
Use the route to explore this location by looking around in 360, taking in the sights and sounds, listening to an audio recording about the area and going on a virtual tour.
HISTORY & INTERESTING FACTS
Piccadilly Circus and Waterloo Place
Piccadilly
An urban legend has grown up that the word Piccadilly comes from prostitution, but I’m sorry to provide a far less seedy backstory. In 1612 a man named Robert Baker built a mansion house just to the north of what is now Piccadilly Circus. He made his wealth from the sale of Piccadills, a stiff collars worn by the fashionable gents in court. Locals derisively called his mansion Piccadill Hall, so the name Piccadilly stuck.
EROS
The official name of the centrepiece is the Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain, named after the great Victorian philanthropist Anthony Ashley Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury. It was financed by public subscription, which is clearly a testament to his charitable work.
The Statue of Eros isn’t actually a Statue of Eros. As mentioned, the Earl of Shaftesbury was more of a humanitarian than a lothario, so in that context, it may not surprise you to know that the statue represents Anteros, the god of selfless and mature love, not his twin brother Eros, the god of frivolous and romantic love. It was the first London statue to be cast in aluminium
Waterloo Place
John Nash created Waterloo Place at the end of the 1820s as the final piece of the triumphal way that connects Regent’s Park with Pall Mall and Carlton House – the residence of the Prince Regent, soon to become King George IV. But after King George III died in 1820, Carlton House was no longer needed and was demolished in 1826 to be replaced by Carlton House Terraces.
The Duke of York Column was erected here in 1831 with flight of steps that lead from the Mall towards the newly named Waterloo Place in memory of the 1815 Battle of Waterloo.
Waterloo Place soon became home to the Athenaeum and the United Service Club, (now the Institute of Directors), and the resting place for a number of monuments and statues, including the Guards Crimean Memorial, the Equestrian statue of Edward VII, Field Marshal Napier and Captain FR Scott – Scott of the Antarctic..
Around Pall Mall
The Mall
The Mall route is often used for major national ceremonies and state visits. Aston Webb designed it with the Victoria Memorial (at Buckingham Palace) to the west and Admiralty Arch to the east (leading into Trafalgar Square). The length of The Mall from where it joins Constitution Hill is precisely 0.5 nautical miles. The surface of The Mall is coloured red to give the effect of a giant red carpet leading up to Buckingham Palace. It is closed to traffic on Sundays, public holidays and ceremonial occasions.
Pall Mall
Pall Mall was constructed in 1661, replacing an earlier highway slightly to the south that ran from the Haymarket to the royal residence, St James's Palace.
Pall Mall is named after the game Pall-mall, a ball game similar to croquet, that was introduced to England in the early 17th century by James I. The game, already popular in France and Scotland, was enjoyed by James' sons Henry and the future Charles I.
By the 18th century, Pall Mall was well known for its shops as well as its grand houses and was one of the first in London to be lit by gas after Frederick Albert Winsor set up experimental lighting in 1807 to celebrate King George III's birthday.
Pall Mall later became known for the various gentlemen's clubs built there in the 19th and early 20th centuries. These include the Travellers Club, the Athenaeum Club, the Reform Club, the Army and Navy Club, the United Service Club (now occupied by the Institute of Directors), the Oxford and Cambridge Club and the Royal Automobile Club
The Institute for Government
The Institute for Government is based at 2 Carlton Gardens and was founded as a charity in 2008. It is a British independent think tank which aims to improve government effectiveness through research and analysis. It engages with UK MPs, senior civil servants and external bodies and supports the development and skills of senior public servants, politicians and political advisors. It also provides thought leadership and conducts and funds research on public administration and government.
St James’s Palace
St James’s Palace is the most senior royal palace in London and is located off the Mall by Marlborough Road. The Palace was built in 1536 by Henry VIII on the site of St James’s Leper Hospital. Much of the original red-brick building, including the Chapel Royal and the gatehouse, still survives today. When a fire destroyed Whitehall Palace in 1698, St James’s Palace became the official home of the monarch until Queen Victoria moved into Buckingham Palace in 1837. His Majesty King Charles III was proclaimed King at St James’s Palace.
Buckingham Palace and Green Park
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace is the London royal residence and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. It is often the focal point for the British during national rejoicing and mourning. It became the London residence of the British monarch on the accession of Queen Victoria in 1837. The palace has 775 rooms and is the largest private garden in London.
The Queen Victoria Memorial
The monument is 25 metres high and uses 2,300 tonnes of white Carrara marble. The central monument, created between 1906 and 1924, is by Sir Thomas Brock, The Memorial was formally unveiled by King George V in 1911. It has statues of an enthroned Queen Victoria (facing The Mall) and of Motherhood (facing Buckingham Palace), with Justice (facing north-west towards Green Park) and Truth (facing south-east). These were created from solid blocks of marble. At the four corners of the monument are massive bronze figures with lions, representing Peace (a female figure holding an olive branch), Progress (a nude youth holding a flaming torch), Agriculture (a woman in peasant dress with a sickle and a sheaf of corn) and Manufacture (a blacksmith in modern costume with a hammer and a scroll). The self-bases of the last two groups are inscribed with ‘The Gift of New Zealand’.
Green Park
Green Park is one of the Royal Parks, and its station is the closest to Buckingham Palace and the south side of Mayfair. In the 17th century, King Charles II’s wife demanded that all the flowers be removed from Green Park after she caught him picking flowers for one of his mistresses. The park still has no formal flowerbeds apart from daffodils in the spring.
The Diana Fountain
The Diana Fountain, also known as Diana of the Treetops, was created by Estcourt J Clack and installed here in 2011. Diana is a Roman god of the countryside, hunters, crossroads, and the Moon. She sits atop a drinking fountain, releasing her whippet for the hunt. This is not to be confused with the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain in Hyde Park by the Serpentine.
This is a brief overview of the history of the West End of London entertainment district.
This video gives you a short introduction to how the West End Shopping area grew during the Tudors (1560) and the Victorians (1860)
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