London is full of little ecosystems: areas that are distinctive by virtue of their purpose or history and where individual elements make up a sum greater than the whole. St James’s is like that: a patch south of Piccadilly where the pleasures of a walk down the street are all to do with being able to look at the windows of the art galleries. There’s a succession of independent dealers selling paintings – Old Masters in some cases – drawings, objects d’art and art books. You probably can’t afford to do more than look, but there’s pleasure in fantasising like a Dorothy Parker character about what you might buy if you only could.

Cork Street, once famous for its dealers, is a ghostly shadow of what it was

Cork Street, once famous for its dealers, is a ghostly shadow of what it was

There used to be streets like that on both sides of Piccadilly but Cork Street, once famous for its dealers, is a ghostly shadow of what it was, with a few anonymous contemporary galleries – somehow, all white – and much of one side dominated by the blank windows of a dealer in modern art, Stephen Friedman, who had to shut up shop in February, partly because of high rent.

It’s looking as if St James’s is going the same way. There are five businesses in and around Duke Street and Ryder Street which are facing closure because the Crown Estate is dramatically increasing the rents, proposing to double them in some cases. (Others too are affected, including those with other landlords.) And owners of little galleries and shops can’t afford to pay; they’ll close. If the rents double, the rates go up correspondingly. The Crown Estate is, in short, threatening to obliterate the distinctive character of what estate........

© The Spectator