St James' Park, Southampton

It is supported by The Friends Of St James' Park (FOSJP) [1] who run a cafe and organise community events.

The land now occupied by the park was gradually surrounded by housing as the suburb of Shirley, Southampton developed in the mid 1800s.

It then passed to the North East of the park through land now occupied by Shirley Junior School before continuing along a course close to the present Wilton Road.

[5] Some land was purchased and work undertaken to the East of Hill Lane South of Archers Road,[6] where The Dell (Southampton) was later built[3] and an unused embankment still exists running towards Commercial Road Archival research by the Shirley Local History Group, notably among the records of a local landowner revealed that a later revival of this scheme, the Southampton and Winchester Great Western Junction Railway, intended to use the park as the original route at this location had by then been developed.

South of St James's Park at this time Didcot, Newbury and Station (now Stratton) Roads were named.