St. James's parish was separated from St. Martin's in 1685, but before that epoch it had begun to have an existence of its own. Faithorne and Newcourt's map of London, 1658, shows us open ground from a double row of trees at Pall Mall to Piccadilly; Piccadilly is marked "from Knightsbridge unto Piccadilly Hall." Opposite the palace, at the foot of the present St. James's Street, are a few houses, including Berkshire (now Bridgewater) House, and there are a few more at the eastern extremity of Pall Mall. At the north-eastern corner of what we call the Haymarket is the "Gaming House," and at the corners adjacent one or two more buildings. This is St. James's in its earliest stage, before the tide of fashion had moved so far westward. Henry Jermyn, Earl of St Albans, in the reign of Charles II. obtained a building lease of forty-five acres in St. James's Fields and projected the square, which became the nucleus of the parish.
Piccadilly.—There is no authentic derivation for this curious name, though many fancy suggestions have been made. The most probable of these is that which connects it with the peccadilloes or ruffs worn by the gallants of Charles II.'s time. Pennant traced the name to piccadillas, turnovers or cakes which were sold at Piccadilla Hall, at the upper end of the Haymarket.
In Thomas Blount's "Glossographia" we read: "Pickadil ... the round hem or the several divisions set together about the skirt of a garment or other thing; also a kinde of stiff collar made in fashion of a Bande. Hence perhaps that famous ordinary near St. James called Peckadilly took denomination because it was then the utmost or skirt house of the suburbs that way, others say it took its name from this, that one Higgins a tailor who built it got most of his estate by Pickadilles, which in the last age were much worn in England." There seems to be no other foundation than Mr. Blount's lively imagination for "Higgins a tailor."
There is as much confusion about the first date at which the name was used as there is about its derivation. Whether the hall took its name from its situation or the district from the hall will probably ever remain in doubt. The earliest occurrence of the name is in 1636, by which time the hall was built. The gaming-house was at a later time also known as Piccadilly, which has increased the confusion. Some writers have identified the hall and the gaming-house, but there seems to be no doubt that these were two separate buildings. The former was a private house standing at the corners of Windmill and Coventry Streets. The latter seems to have been built by Robert Baker, and sold by his widow to Colonel Panton, who built Panton Street. It was otherwise known as Shaver's Hall, and had a tennis-court and upper and lower bowling-green, and was a very fashionable place of resort. The secondary name probably emanated from the proprietor's former trade, but it is said to have stuck to the place after Lord Dunbar lost £3,000 at one sitting, when people said a Northern lord had been shaved here.
Sir John Suckling was among the habitués of the place, and his sisters will ever be remembered from Aubrey's pathetically humorous description of their coming "to the Peccadillo bowling-green crying for feare he should lose all [their] portions," as he was a great gamester.
The name Piccadilly appears to have begun at the east end, near the circus, and spread over the whole, a fact which is in favour of its being derived from the house, not the name of the house from the locality.
Regent Street is Nash's great memorial. The conception is undoubtedly fine, namely, a vast avenue to lead from Carlton House to a country mansion to be built for George IV. in Regent's Park. Nash's great idea, the combining of many separate buildings into one uniform façade, is here seen at its best. At first a lengthy colonnade supported by columns 16 feet high ran on either side of the quadrant, but this darkened the shops, so it was removed. The street is famous for its shops, which line it from end to end; it has also the merit of being wider than most of the London streets.
The part of the parish lying to the east of Regent Street is quite uninteresting except for Golden Square, which has been well described by Hatton as "not exactly in anybody's way, to or from anywhere." The square is mentioned in both "Humphrey Clinker" and "Nicholas Nickleby." Here Henry St. John, Lord Bolingbroke, lived, 1704-1708, and Mrs. Cibber in 1746. Angelica Kauffman lived in the centre house on the south side for many years. It was in the vicinity of the square that the great burial-ground for the plague-stricken dead was formed in the reign of Charles II. It was chosen as being well away from the town. Pennant says: "Golden Square, of dirty access, was built after the Revolution or before 1700. It was built by that true hero Lord Craven, who stayed in London during the whole time: and braved the fury of the pestilence with the same coolness as he fought the battles of his beloved mistress, Elizabeth, Queen of Bohemia." It was in Golden Square that De Quincey took leave of Ann, whom he was never to see again.
Piccadilly Circus was formed at the same time as Regent Street, though it has been altered since. The Criterion Theatre and Restaurant are on the south-east side. On this site formerly stood a well-known coaching inn called the White Bear. One of Shepherd's charming sketches in the Crace Collection illustrates the courtyard of the inn. Benjamin West, afterwards P.R.A., put up here on the night of his first sojourn in London. In the centre of the circus is a fountain in memory of the seventh Earl of Shaftsbury. This was designed by Alfred Gilbert, R.A., and consists of a very light metal figure of Mercury on a very solid aluminium pedestal.
In Piccadilly itself there is the somewhat gloomy-looking geological museum, with entrance in Jermyn Street, open free to all comers. The church of St James's, which comes shortly after, was built by Sir Christopher Wren at the cost of Henry Jermyn, Earl of St. Albans, and consecrated at first as a chapel of ease to St. Martin's. The first rector was Tenison, afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury. Wren considered this one of his best works. He says: "In this church ... though very broad and the nave arched, yet there are no walls of a second order, nor lantherns, nor buttresses, but the whole roof rests upon the pillars, as do also the galleries; I think it may be found beautiful and convenient, and as such the cheapest of any form I could invent."