London – Around Town : Mayfair and St James’s (part 1)

by

This is where royalty shop
and the rest of us go to gaze. Many of the wonderful small shops around
here were established to serve the royal court at St James’s Palace.
Piccadilly – named after the fancy collars called “picadils” sold at a
shop in the street in the 18th century – divides St James’s to the south
from Mayfair to the north, where top shops continue up Bond Street,
Cork Street and Savile Row to Oxford Street. Home to the Royal Academy
of Arts since 1868, Mayfair has long been one of the best addresses in
town. Today most of London’s top-flight art galleries are here.


Americans in Mayfair

America’s connection with Mayfair dates from
World War II when General Eisenhower stayed in a house on Grosvenor
Square. In 1960 the Embassy building opened on land leased from the
Grosvenor Estate, who refused to sell the freehold unless 12,000 acres
of their estate in Florida, confiscated after the War of Independence,
was returned.




Royal Opera Arcade




Sights


  1. Buckingham Palace




    Buckingham Palace



    Victoria Memorial, Buckingham Palace

  2. St James’s Park

    This
    is undoubtedly London’s most elegant park, with dazzling flower beds,
    exotic wildfowl on the lake, an excellent restaurant/café next to the
    lake (Inn the Park, 020 7451 9999to book)
    and music on the bandstand in summer. The bridge over the lake has a
    good view to the west of Buckingham Palace and, to the east, of the
    former Colonial Office where just 125 civil servants once governed the
    British Empire that covered one fifth of the world.

    • SW1

    • Open 5am–midnight daily




    St James’s Park

  3. Royal Academy of Arts

    Major
    visiting art exhibitions are staged at Burlington House, home of
    Britain’s most prestigious fine arts institution. The building is one of
    Piccadilly’s few surviving 17th-century mansions – you can see the
    former garden front on the way up to the Sackler Galleries. Near the
    entrance is Michelangelo’s Madonna and Child
    (1505) – part of the Royal Academy’s permanent collection and one of
    only four Michelangelo sculptures outside Italy. In the Academy’s
    popular, annual summer exhibition, new works by both established and
    unknown artists are displayed .

    • Burlington House, Piccadilly W1

    • Open 10am–6pm daily (10pm Fri)

    • Free (admission charge for temporary exhibitions)

  4. St James’s Palace

    Built by Henry VIII, on the site of the former hospital of St James, the palace is the official residence of Prince Charles. The red brick Tudor gatehouse is a familiar landmark.

    • The Mall SW1

    • Closed to public




    Gatehouse, St James’s Palace

  5. Bond Street

    London’s
    most exclusive shopping street, Bond Street (known as New Bond Street
    to the north and Old Bond Street to the south) has long been the place
    for high society to promenade: many of its establishments have been here
    for over 100 years. The street is home to top fashion houses, elegant
    galleries such as Agnews and the Fine Art Society, Sotheby’s auction
    rooms and jewellers such as Tiffany and Asprey. Where Old and New Bond
    Street meet, there is a delightful sculpture of wartime leaders Franklin
    D Roosevelt and Winston Churchill – well worth a photograph.




  6. Shepherd Market

    The
    market was named after Edward Shepherd who built a two-storey house
    here in around 1735. Today, this pedestrianized area in the heart of
    Mayfair is a good place to visit on a summer evening for a drink or
    meal. Ye Grapes, dating from 1882, is the principal pub, while local
    restaurants include L ‘Artiste Musclé, Le Boudin Blanc and The Village
    Bistro. During the 17th century, an annual May Fair was held here,
    giving the area its name.




    Shepherd Market

  7. Apsley House

    The home of the Duke of Wellington,
    Apsley House is still partly occupied by the family. Designed by Robert
    Adam in the 1770s, the mansion is given over to paintings, and
    memorabilia of the great military leader. Paintings include several fine
    works by Diego Velázquez, including The Waterseller of Seville. Antonio Canova’s nude statue of Napoleon has special poignancy.

    • Hyde Park Corner W1

    • Open Apr–Oct: 11am–5pm Wed–Sun (to 4pm Nov–Mar)

    • Admission charge




    Apsley House

  8. Berkeley Square

    This
    pocket of green in the middle of Mayfair was planted in 1789 and its 30
    huge plane trees may be the oldest in London. In 1774 Clive of India,
    hero of the British Empire in India, committed suicide at No. 45.
    Memorial benches in the square bear moving inscriptions, many from
    Americans who were billeted here during World War II. A Bentley and
    Rolls-Royce dealer’s showroom is on the east side of the square.




    Berkeley Square

  9. Burlington Arcade

    This arcade of bijou shops was built in 1819 for Lord George Cavendish of Burlington House (see Royal Academy of Arts)
    to prevent people from throwing rubbish into his garden. The arcade is
    patrolled by uniformed beadles who control unseemly behaviour.

    • Piccadilly W1




    Burlington Arcade

  10. Royal Institution

    Michael
    Faraday (1791–1867), a pioneer of electro-technology, experimented in
    the laboratories of the Royal Institution, where he was Professor of
    Chemistry from 1833–67. These Neo-classical buildings house high-spec
    laboratories and fascinating exhibitions including the Faraday
    Exhibition.

    • The Royal Institution, 21 Albemarle Street W1

    • Open 9am–5:30pm Mon–Fri

    • Admission charge