 | Rural attractions of London: The cottage ornee designed by the now forgotten architect, John Burges Watson, in the tradition of Nash's rustic villas, was placed on Duck Island in St James's Park by the Ornithological Society of London in 1840. It is curiously incongruous to find such a rural retreat immediately opposite the mighty Foreign and Commonweath Office. On the site formerly was the Decoy where John Evelyn once saw a one-legged crane that had been fitted with a wooden leg. Duck Island and the Decoy were created at the east end of the Long Water in 1662, but only the island survived 'Capability' Brown's alterations in 1770. Nash, too, retained the island when he reshaped the lake, giving it an uneven outline. All year, waterfowl -over forty different species- inhabit the lake and Duck Island. |
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