St James' Park

St James' Park, Church Street, Upper Shirley, Southampton, SO15 5LW

St James' Park is located in Shirley between St James' Road, Winchester Road, Wordsworth Road and Church Street.

Facilities

• Café (open 10am-4pm)
• Botanical and scenic walks
• Children's playground with climbing wall
• Outdoor gym equipment
• Tennis courts

Further information

The popular park covers 2.3 hectares and has an interesting history and heritage, which is being uncovered as part of a parks for people project. Historical maps show that the site was used as a nursery in 1865 and by 1897 use had changed to a gravel pit. It is also rumoured that the land was at one time designated for a railway station or siding but this has yet to be proved. Council archives record that the land was bought in 1907 and gravel extraction continued until the land was finally landscaped in 1911 for public use.

St James' Park re-opened in 2011 following improvement works under a parks for people project, jointly funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, Big Lottery Fund and Southampton City Council, in partnership with Friends of St James' Park.

• St James' Park Management Plan
• Friends of St James' Park

Getting to St James' Park

If you are planning on getting to St James' Park by car it may not be easy to find on your sat nav. Some nearby postcodes are SO15 5LW and SO16 6UG. The surrounding roads are St James' Road, Wordsworth Road and Church Street. The nearest car park is on Cannon Street.