St James Palace

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; St James's Palace

In the civil parish of Westminster.
In the historic county of Middlesex (Modern Authority of London Borough of Westminster, 1974 county of Greater London).

Royal palace constructed in 1531 on the site of a former leper hospital (Which had had a crenellated tower (qv). It originally comprised a manor house with four courtyards and a gate house. It has a complex history of alterations and additions including damage by a major fire in 1809. The palace became the official royal residence in 1702 and continued in use until the 1830s when Buckingham House was constructed. It is still used for accommodation for members of the royal family.

This site has been described as a;
Palace.
The confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Certain.
Major remains.

listed building

Images of England

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is TQ29358004

Sources of information, references and further reading

PastScape number; 404943

Web site links

http://www.theheritagetrail.co.uk/royal%20palaces/st%20james%20palace.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._James's_Palace

Books

Thurley, Simon, 1993, The Royal Palaces of Tudor England (Yale University Press)
James, T.B., 1990, The Palaces of Medieval England (London; Seaby) p158, 163
Colvin, H.M., Ransome, D.R. and Summerson, John, 1982, The history of the King's Works, vol4: 1485-1660 (part 2) (London) p241-52
Pevsner, N. (Revised by Cherry, Bridget), 1973, The Buildings of England: London, 1: the Cities of London and Westminster (London, Penguin) p472
RCHME, 1925, Inventory of Historic Monuments in London Vol2: West London (HMSO) p128-32
Page, Wm (ed), 1911, VCH Middlesex p291
Timbs, J. and Gunn, A., 1872, Abbeys, Castles and Ancient Halls of England and Wales Vol1 (London) p148-50

Journal Articles

Baille, M., 1967, Archaeologia Vol101 p177-8

Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)

Speed, John, 1611-12, The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britain [http://faculty.oxy.edu/horowitz/home/johnspeed/Cities28.htm]

Other sources and unpublished works (Theses, in-house reports and other such)

Thurley, Simon, 1991, English Royal Palaces, 1450-1550 (unpub PhD thesis; London) p214-28

Most of the sites or buildings recorded in this web site are NOT open to the public and permission to visit a site must always be sought from the landowner or tenant

The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of English Heritage and other individuals and organisations.

It is an offence to disturb a Scheduled Monument without consent. It is a destruction of everyone's heritage to remove archaeological evidence from any site without proper recording and reporting. Don't use metal detectors on historic sites without authorisation.

Please help me to make this as useful a resource as possible by contacting me if you see errors or if you can add information.
I do acknowledge the help I get with this site.

*The listed building may not be the actual medieval building, but a building on the site of, or incorporating fragments of, the described site.

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