The Mall is the processional route between Trafalgar Square and Buckingham Palace.
During the reign of Charles II in 1660, the King ordered the redesign of St James’s Park. This included a centre piece - a straight canal, 2560ft long and 125ft wide, lined on each side with avenues of trees. The origins of the name The Mall had been a field for playing the game
pall-mall.
In the 17th and 18th centuries it became a fashionable promenade, its importance growing in significance when St James’s Palace became the monarch’s main residence in 1698.
Traffic was permitted on The Mall in 1887 and in the early 1900s, it was repurposed as a ceremonial route in honour of Queen Victoria. As part of the early 20th century development, a new façade was constructed for Buckingham Palace, and the Victoria Memorial was erected, designed by Aston Webb. The construction of Admiralty Arch in 1910 brought a formality to the start of the route.
During state visits, the monarch and the visiting head of state are escorted in a state carriage up The Mall and the street is decorated with Union Flags and the flags of the visiting head of state’s country. The surface of the road is coloured red to give the effect of a giant red carpet leading up to Buckingham Palace.
The road is closed to traffic on Sundays, public holidays and for ceremonial events, including royal weddings, jubilee celebrations, parades and state visits.
The annual London Marathon finishes on The Mall.
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The Mall is the processional route between Trafalgar Square and Buckingham Palace.
