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Number 10 Downing Street
Former Prime Minister Tony Blair and U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney stand in front of the famous main door to Number 10. Hundreds of pictures like this one have been taken of Prime Ministers greeting other world leaders.
Building information
Town	London
Country	England, United Kingdom
Coordinates	51°30′12″N 0°07′40″W / 51.503389, -0.127639Coordinates: 51°30′12″N 0°07′40″W / 51.503389, -0.127639

Number 10 Downing Street is the residence and office of the First Lord of the Treasury and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The headquarters of Her Majesty's Government, it is situated on Downing Street in the City of Westminster in London, England.

Number 10, as it is often known, is perhaps the most famous address in London and one of the most widely recognised houses in the world. The centre of the United Kingdom government, it is the Prime Minister's home and place of work with offices for secretaries, assistants and advisors. There are also conference rooms and dining rooms where the Prime Minister meets and entertains other leaders and foreign dignitaries. The building is near the Palace of Westminster, the home of Parliament, and Buckingham Palace, the residence of Queen Elizabeth II.

Number 10 was originally three houses: a large mansion called "the house at the back" built around 1530; a modest townhouse called Number 10 Downing Street built in 1685; and, a small cottage next to it. In 1732 King George II offered all three to Sir Robert Walpole in gratitude for his services to the nation. Walpole accepted but only on the condition that they would be a gift to the office of First Lord of the Treasury rather than to himself personally. Between 1732 and 1735, Walpole commissioned William Kent to join them together. It is this larger house that is known today as Number 10 Downing Street.

The arrangement was not an immediate success. Despite its impressive size and convenient location, few early Prime Ministers lived there because they had finer homes of their own and because it needed constant repair due to its poor construction on boggy soil. Costly to maintain, neglected, and run-down, Number 10 was close to being razed several times.

Nevertheless, Number 10 survived and became linked with many of the great statesmen and events in British history. Gradually, the people came to appreciate its historic value. In 1985, during the 250th anniversary of Walpole's restoration of Number 10, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher said it had become "one of the most precious jewels in the national heritage". ^[1]

History of the Building

History of the Original Number 10 Before 1733 and the Building of Downing Street

Number 10 Downing Street, the modern residence of the First Lord of the Treasury and Prime Minister, was originally three houses: a stately mansion overlooking St James's Park called "the house at the back", a modest townhouse behind it located at 10 Downing Street and a small cottage next to Number Ten. The townhouse, from which the modern building gets its name, was one of several built by Sir George Downing in 1684.

Downing, a notorious spy for Oliver Cromwell and later King Charles II, invested shrewdly in properties and acquired considerable wealth. ^{[2] [3] [4]} In 1654, he purchased the lease on a parcel of land south of Saint James's Park, adjacent to the house at the back, a short distance from Parliament. Downing planned to build a row of townhouses designed "for persons of good quality to inhabit in…" ^[5] The street on which he built these homes now bears his name, and the largest became part of today's Number 10 Downing Street.

Sir George Downing. This painting now hangs in Number 10 just inside the front door.

Straightforward as this investment seemed, it proved otherwise because there was another claim to the land: the Hampden family had a lease from the Crown that they refused to relinquish. Downing fought this claim, but failed. Consequently, he had to wait thirty years for the Hampden lease to expire before he finally built his houses. ^[6]

When the time came, Downing asked for and received permission to build further west beyond the limit imposed earlier to take advantage of recent real estate developments. The new warrant issued in 1682 reads: "Sir George Downing . . . [is authorized] to build new and more houses further westward on the grounds granted him by the patent of 1663/4 Feb. 23. The present grant is by reason that the said Cockpit or the greater part thereof is since demolished; but it is to be subject to the proviso that it be not built any nearer than 14 feet of the wall of the said Park at the West end thereof." ^[7]

In less than two years, between 1682 and 1684, Downing built a large cul-de-sac of two-storey townhomes complete with coach-houses, stables and views of St. James's Park. How many he built is not clear, most historians say fifteen, others say twenty. Possibly, there were originally fifteen and others were added later. The addresses also changed several times in the coming years; Number 10 was actually "Number Five" for a while; it did not become "Ten" until 1787. ^[8]

Downing employed the renown architect Sir Christopher Wren to design his houses but the result was not impressive. Although large, they were put up quickly and cheaply, and constructed on soft soil with shallow foundations. The fronts, for example, were facades with lines painted on the surface imitating brick mortar. Prime Minister Winston Churchill wrote that 10 Downing Street was "shaky and lightly built by the profiteering contractor whose name they bear." ^[9]

The upper end of the cul de sac, known as Downing Square, closed off access to St. James's Park. They were considered chic and so had several distinguished residents. The Countess of Yarmouth lived at Number 10 between 1688 and 1689. Lord Lansdowne resided there from 1692 to 1696, as did the Earl of Grantham from 1699 to 1703. It was a fashionable place to live. An advertisement in 1720, described Downing Street as: " . . . a pretty open Place, especially at the upper end, where are four or five very large and well-built Houses, fit for Persons of Honour and Quality; each House having a pleasant Prospect into St. James's Park, with a Tarras Walk." ^[10]

Downing probably never lived in the townhouses he waited thirty years to build. In 1675, he retired to Cambridge where he died a few months after the completion of his street. A portrait of Sir George Downing now hangs in the entrance foyer of the modern Number 10 Downing Street. ^[11]

History of the "House at the Back" Before 1733

The Palace of Whitehall by Hendrick Danckerts c. 1660-1679. The view is from the west with King Charles II in the foreground riding through St James's Park. The "house at the back" is on the far right; the octagonal building next to it is the Cockpit.

"The House at the Back", the largest original part of the Prime Minister's residence, was a stately mansion constructed around 1530 next to Whitehall Palace, then the primary residence of monarchs. It was one of several buildings that made up the "Cockpit Lodgings", so-called because they were attached to an unusual octagonal structure used as a cock-fighting ring. Early in seventeenth century, it was converted to a concert hall and theatre but kept its old name. After the English Restoration, some of the first Cabinet meetings were secretly held in the Cockpit. ^[12]

During Tudor times, the house at the back was the home of the Keeper of Whitehall Palace, responsible for maintaining the palace including the Cockpit. For many years, it was occupied by Thomas Knevett (or Knyvet), famous for capturing Guy Fawkes in 1605 and foiling his plot to assassinate James I. The previous year, Knevett moved into a house next door, approximately where Number 10 is today. ^{[13] [14]}

From this time, members of the royal family and government officials lived in the house at the back. In 1604, James I’s four-year-old son Prince Charles (the future Charles I) lived there briefly. The next occupant was eight-year-old Princess Elizabeth. Before she moved in, a kitchen and rooms for servants were built, and the property was extended to include the Little Close Tennis Court where Henry VIII played his favourite game. Elizabeth lived there until 1613 when she married Frederick V, Elector Palatine and moved to Hanover. She was the grandmother of George, the Elector of Hanover, who became King of England in 1714, and the great-grandmother of King George II, who offered the house to Walpole in 1732. Thus over a period of one hundred years the house at the back symbolically links the English Houses of Stuart and Hanover. ^[15]

Oliver Cromwell lived in the house at the back between 1650 and 1654; his widow, for a year in 1659. George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle, the general who made possible the Restoration of the monarchy, lived there from 1660 until his death in 1671. Albemarle was First Commissioner of the Great Treasury Commission of 1667-1672 that transformed royal accounting and allowed the Crown greater control over expenses. These measures also laid the foundations for the legal authority of the office of First Lord of the Treasury. The man thought to be most responsible for developing them was Albemarle's Secretary, Sir George Downing, the same man who later built Downing Street. Albemarle is the first minister associated with the Treasury to live in what would eventually become the home of the First Lord of the Treasury and Prime Minister. ^[16]

In 1671, George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, took possession when he became a leading member of the Cabal Ministry. (The "B" in the acronym CABAL refers to Buckingham.) At considerable government expense, Buckingham rebuilt the house. The result was a spectacular, spacious mansion, lying parallel to Whitehall Palace. From its secluded ornamental garden there was a full view of St. James's Park where deer grazed and noble men and women strolled on paths adorned with sculpture. ^[17]

After Buckingham retired in 1676, Lady Charlotte Fitzroy, Charles II's illegitimate twelve-year-old daughter, moved in when she married the Earl of Lichfield, Master of the Horse. In preparation for the new tenant, the Crown authorized extensive rebuilding once again. This work included widening the garden and adding a storey, giving the house three main floors, plus an attic and basement. The resulting mansion, known as Litchfield House, can be seen today as the rear section of Number Ten. ^[18] (See Plan of the Premises Granted to the Earl and Countess of Lichfield in 1677 [1]) ^[19]

The most likely reason that the mansion needed extensive repair so soon after Buckingham's renovations is that the house had settled, causing structural damage. Westminster was once a swamp known in medieval times as Thorney Island (The Island of Thorns). Buildings in the area require deep foundations to avoid settling and structural damage. Like Downing Street, the house at the back rested on a shallow foundation, a design error that would cause problems until 1960 when the modern Number 10 was rebuilt on a foundation set on deep pilings. ^[20]

Lady Litchfield and her family followed James II into exile after the Glorious Revolution. In 1690, the new monarchs, King William III and Queen Mary II, offered Litchfield House to Hendrik van Nassau-Ouwerkerk, a Dutch general and cousin of the King, who had assisted in securing the Crown for the then-Prince of Orange. Nassau, called "Lord Overkirk" by the English, lived in the house at the back - now called Overkirk House - until his death in 1708. ^[21]

The house reverted to the Crown upon Lady Overkirk's death in 1720, and the Treasury issued an order "for repairing and fitting it up in the best and most substantial manner" at a cost of £2,522, a very large sum at the time. The work included: "The Back passage into Downing street to be repaired and a new door; a New Necessary House to be made; To take down the Useless passage formerly made for the Maids of Honour to go into Downing Street, when the Queen lived at the Cockpit; To New Cast a great Lead Cistern & pipes and to lay the Water into the house & a new frame for ye Cistern." ^[22] (See Buildings on the Site of the Cockpit and Number 10 Downing Street c1720 [2]) ^[23]

These repairs completed, Johann Caspar von Bothmar, Count Bothmar, envoy from Hanover and advisor to George I and II, took up residency. Although Bothmar complained bitterly about "the ruinous Condition of the Premises", ^[24] he lived there until his death in 1732.

The First Lord's House: 1733-1735

Sir Robert Walpole accepted George II's gift of the house at the back and two Downing Street houses but only on the condition that it be given to the office of First Lord of the Treasury rather than to himself personally.

When Count Bothmar died, ownership of the house at the back again reverted to the Crown. George II took this opportunity to offer it to Sir Robert Walpole, often called the first Prime Minister, as a gift for his extraordinary services to the nation and the House of Hanover over the previous years. Coincidentally, the King had also obtained the leases on two properties on Downing Street, one of which was Number 10, and added these to his proposed gift.

Walpole did not want to accept the gift for himself. ^[25] Shrewd and wealthy, he, perhaps, did not want to burden himself by adding to his extensive holdings. Or, perhaps, he knew the houses were built on soft soil and would be expensive to maintain. At the same time, he probably did not want to offend the King by refusing the gift. Whatever his motivations, Walpole proposed - and the King agreed - that the Crown give the properties to the Office of First Lord of the Treasury. Walpole would live there as the incumbent First Lord, but would vacate it for the next one. ^[26]

The arrangement made, Walpole set about uniting the properties. Wanting to extend the new house as far as the passage to the east, Walpole persuaded Mr Chicken, the tenant of the small cottage next door, to move to another house in Downing Street. ^[27] Mr Chicken's former residence and the house at the back were then incorporated into Number 10.

Walpole commissioned William Kent to join them. Kent's plan was a masterpiece. He joined the two larger houses by building a two-story structure on part of the space between them, consisting of a long room on the ground floor and several rooms above. The remaining space was converted into a courtyard. He then connected the Downing Street houses with a corridor, now called the Treasury Passage.

Having joined the structures, Kent then gutted them: tearing down walls, ripping up floors, removing staircases, and dismantling fireplaces. Craftsmen created a handsome stone triple staircase in the main section. With an wrought iron balustrade embellished with a scroll design and mahogany handrail, it rises from the garden floor to the first floor. Kent's staircase is the first architectural feature visitors see as they entered 10 Downing Street. Portraits of all the Prime Ministers from Walpole to the present decorated the wall going up its side; there are two of Sir Winston Churchill. ^[28] (See The Main Stairway c1930 General view showing portraits of the Prime Ministers [3] and Detail of the Wrought Iron Balustrade [4]) ^{[29] [30]}

Although Kent left the house at the back with three floors of living space, he surmounted its central section with a pediment, adding height and interest to the structure. To allow Walpole quicker access to the House of Commons, he walled up its north side entrance from St. James's Park, and made the door on Downing Street the main entrance.

The redesign and rebuilding took two years. On September 23, 1735, the London Daily Post announced that Walpole had moved into Number 10: “Yesterday, the Right Hon. Sir Robert Walpole, with his Lady and Family moved from their House in St James’s Square, to his new House adjoining to the Treasury in St James’s Park.” ^[31]

The Walpole family did not enter through the door that is now so famous. That would be installed forty years later. However, Kent's door was also modest, belying the spacious elegance beyond. The Walpole family's new, albeit temporary, home had sixty rooms, decorated with hardwood and marble floors, crown moulding, elegant pillars and marble mantelpieces many with beautiful views of St. James's Park. (See Examples of Mantle Pieces in Number Ten. Mantle piece in the Secretary’s Room c1927 [5] ^[32] and Mantle Piece in the Prime Minister’s Bedroom c1927 [6] ^[33])

One of the largest rooms was a study for Walpole, measuring forty feet by twenty with enormous windows. The room was and still is magnificent; its impressive size is easily seen in many paintings and photographs. "My Lord's Study" ^[34] (as Kent labelled it in his drawings) would later be famous as the Cabinet room where Prime Ministers meet with their subordinate ministers. ^[35] A portrait of Walpole hangs over the fireplace behind the Prime Minister’s chair; it is the only picture in the room. ^[36] (See Modern Cabinet Room:[7])

Kent also created a massive kitchen in the basement that still exists. Seldom seen by anyone other than staff, the space is two stories high with a huge arched window and vaulted ceiling. Traditionally, it has always had a work table in the center that is 14 feet long, 3 feet wide and 5 inches thick. (See The Kitchen c1930 View showing the table, window and ceiling [8]) ^[37]

After moving in, Walpole ordered that a portion of the land outside his study to be converted into a terrace and garden. Letters patent issued in April 1736 state that: "... a piece of garden ground situated in his Majesty's park of St. James's, & belonging & adjoining to the house now inhabited by the Right Honorable the Chancellor of His Majesty's Exchequer, hath been lately made & fitted up at the Charge … of the Crown". (See North elevation of Number Ten with steps leading to the garden [9]) ^[38] The terrace and garden still exist; over the years they have provided a casual background for many group photographs of First Lords together with their Cabinet ministers, staff or guests. Prime Minister Tony Blair, for example, hosted a farewell reception in 2007 for his staff on the terrace.

The same document confirmed that Number Ten Downing Street was: "meant to be annexed & united to the Office of his Majesty's Treasury & to be & to remain for the Use & Habitation of the first Commissioner of his Majesty's Treasury for the time being." ^[39] Thus it was stated in writing that the First Lord of the Treasury had an official home.

A Vast, Awkward House: 1735-1902

William Pitt the Younger lived in Number 10 Downing Street for twenty years, longer than any other Prime Minister before or since. In a letter to his mother, Pitt called Number 10 "My vast, awkward house".

Walpole lived in Number 10 for seven years until his fall from power in 1742. He had accepted the house as a gift from the Crown for himself and future First Lords of the Treasury. However, it would be twenty-one years before any of his successors chose to live there. All five First Lords who formed governments after 1742 preferred their own homes. In fact, this was the pattern for almost 180 years. Of the 31 First Lords from 1735 to 1902, only 16 (including Walpole) lived in Number 10.

Some First Lords who lived in Number 10 enjoyed it. Lord North lived there happily with his family for fifteen years from 1767 to 1782. William Pitt the Younger was also fond of it, living there for twenty years - longer than any First Lord before or since - from 1783 to 1801 and again from 1804 to 1806. He affectionately referred to Number 10 in a letter to his mother as “My vast, awkward house.” ^[40] Fredrick Robinson, Lord Goderich, took a special liking to the house in the late 1820’s when he was Chancellor of the Exchequer and later First Lord; he spent state funds lavishly remodeling the interior. ^[41]

Nevertheless, for seventy years following Pitt’s death in 1806, Number 10 was rarely used as the First Lord’s residence. Lord Liverpool lived in his fine home, Fife House, during his long ministry from 1812 to 1827. After Lord Grey resigned in 1834, his immediate successors - Melbourne, Peel, Russell, Derby, Aberdeen and Palmerstone - all lived elsewhere, as did Gladstone and Disraeli, at least in their first ministries. From 1834 to 1877, the building was either vacant or used only for offices and meetings. Beginning in 1877, first Disraeli and then Gladstone lived in Number 10 and thus revived the idea that it is the First Lord’s official residence. Their colorful, sometimes bitter, political rivalry - documented almost daily by the new penny press and photographs - associated the office with the house in the public’s mind. Indeed, every First Lord since 1877 has lived in Number 10. However, not all of them were also Prime Minister; there was something of a reversion to the earlier pattern until 1902.

One reason so many First Lords chose not to make Number 10 their official residence during this period was that most were peers who owned estates and homes superior in size and quality. To them, Number 10 was unimpressive. Instead, they saw their “possession” of the house, albeit temporary, as a perk they could use as a political reward. Most lent it to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, others to lesser officials, and still others to friends or relatives. ^[42] Henry Pelham, for example, had his own spacious home and had no need for Number 10. In what one historian called a piece of “blatant political corruption”, he allowed his son-in-law, Henry Clinton, Earl of Lincoln, to live there from 1745 to 1753 even though Clinton was not involved in politics. ^[43] Lord Liverpool assigned it to his two Chancellors of the Exchequer, Nicholas Vansittart (1812 – 1823) and Frederick Robinson (1823 – 1827). ^{[44] [45]} A few peers did live in Number 10 but only out of necessity. The Duke of Wellington, for example, grudgingly lived there for eighteen months between 1828 and 1830 because his own magnificent home, Apsley House, was undergoing extensive renovations. He left as soon as it was finished. ^[46] Even at the end of the nineteenth century, Lord Salisbury, the last peer to be Prime Minister ^[47], preferred living in his house on Arlington Street and his estate Hatfield House. During his last ministry from 1895 to 1902, his nephew, Arthur Balfour, lived in Number 10. ^[48]

Another reason why many First Lords chose not to live in Number 10 was that it was awkward and hazardous. Due to the soft soil and shallow foundation, the building was prone to sinking which caused the floors to buckle and the walls and chimneys to crack. It easily became unsafe and required frequent repairs. In 1766, for example, Lord Charles Townsend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pointed out that the house was in a dilapidated condition. His architect’s letter to the Treasury read: "... we have caused the House in Downing Street belonging to the Treasury to be surveyed, & find the Walls of the old part of the said House next the street to be much decayed, the Floors & Chimneys much sunk from the level . . . “ ^[49] Townsend ordered extensive repairs, but they were still incomplete eight years later. A note from Lord North to the Office of Works, dated September 1774, asks that the work on the front of the house, "which was begun by a Warrant from the Treasury dated August 9, 1766", ^[50] should be finished. (See Kent's Treasury and No. 10, Downing Street, circa 1754.[10]) ^[51]

Treasury officials often complained that the rickety old building cost too much to maintain; some suggested that it be razed and a new house constructed on the site or elsewhere. In 1782, the Board of Works, reporting on “the dangerous state of the old part of the House”, stated that “no time be lost in taking down said building . . . “ ^[52] In 1783, the Duke of Portland moved out because it was once again in need of repair. A committee found that the money spent so far was insufficient. This time the Board of Works declared that "the Repairs, Alterations & Additions at the Chancellor of the Exchequer's House will amount to the sum of £5,580, exclusive of the sum for which they already have His Majesty's Warrant. And praying a Warrant for the said sum of £5,580 - and also praying an Imprest of that sum to enable them to pay the Workmen." ^[53] This proved to be a gross underestimate; the final bill was over £11,000. The Morning Herald fumed about the expense: "£500 pounds p.a. preceding the Great Repair, and £11,000 the Great Repair itself! So much has this extraordinary edifice cost the country – For one moiety of the sum a much better dwelling might have been purchased!" ^[54] (See Plan of the Design for Number Ten c1781 [11])’' ^[55]

To make matters worse, the Downing Street neighborhood declined at the turn of the nineteenth century. Surrounded by rundown buildings, dark alleys, crime and prostitution, it was an unsavory place. Earlier, the government had taken over the other Downing Street houses: the Colonial Office occupied Number 14 in 1798: the Foreign Office was at Number 16 and the houses on either side; the West India Department was in Number 18 and the Tithe Commissioners, Number 20. But they deteriorated from neglect, became unsafe, and one by one were torn down. By 1857, Downing’s townhouses were all gone, except for Number 10, Number 11 (customarily the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s residence) and Number 12 (used as offices for Government Whips). ^[56] (See Numbers 10, 11, and 12 Downing Street First Floor Plan [12] and Ground Floor Plan [13])

Given its history of chronic deterioration, the extraordinary expense of maintaining it, and the frequent calls for its demolition, it is surprizing Number 10 was standing at the end of the nineteenth century. Nevertheless it survived and many of the features that were added during these years survived with it and are still present today.

Number 10’s Famous Entrance Door

Most of the exterior shape and features of Number 10 were created by Kent when he combined the house at the back with the Downing Street townhouses in 1735. Its appearance from the outside is basically the same today as it was when he completed his work. The most important exception is the now world famous front door entrance.

Number 10's famous door is the product of the renovations Townsend ordered in 1766 but probably not comleted until 1772. Executed in the elegant Georgian style by the architect Kenton Couse, it is a masterpiece of understatement. Unassuming and narrow, it consists of a single white stone step leading to a modest brick front. The small, six-paneled door, made of black oak, is surrounded by cream-coloured casing and adorned above with a semicircular fanlight window. Painted in white in the centre, between the top and middle sets of panels, is the number "10". Between the two middle panels is a black iron knocker in the shape of a lion's head; below the knocker is a brass letter box with the inscription "First Lord of the Treasury". A black ironwork fence with spiked newel posts runs along the front of the house and up each side of the step to the door. The fence rises above the step into a double-swirled archway, supporting an iron gas lamp surmounted by a crown. ^[57] (See The Entrance Door: As seen from the outside [14]) ^[58]

Beyond the door, Couse installed black and white marble tiles arranged like a checkerboard in the entrance hall that are still in use and almost as famous as the door itself. Inside to the left, he added another door leading to Number 11, the Chancellor of the Exchequers residence. Finally, he added a bow front to the small cottage on the Whitehall side - formerly Mr. Chicken’s house - incorporated into Number 10 in Walpole's time. ^[59] (See The Entrance Door: As seen from inside showing the black and white marble floor and the door providing access to Number 11 [15]) ^[60]

Other alterations from Kent’s original design have been made mostly to the interior. Literally hundreds were made: walls and ceilings removed; doorways and staircases shifted; rooms combined or added or their usages changed. The alterations are impossible to follow, given that the house was almost continuously being redesigned, renovated or repaired. Two of the most important that have still exist in today’s Number 10 are the modern Cabinet Room and the State Dining Room.

The Cabinet Room

In Kent’s design for the enlarged Number 10, the Cabinet Room was a simple, albeit magnificent, rectangular space with enormous windows. As part of the renovations made in 1783, the Cabinet Room was extended, giving the space its modern appearance. This was achieved by removing the east wall and rebuilding it several feet inside the adjoining secretaries' room. The secretary's room became smaller with its fireplace out of centre. At the entrance, a screen of two pairs of Corinthian columns was erected (to carry the extra span of the ceiling) supporting a molded entablature which is continued round the room. The resulting small space, framed by the pillars, serves an anti-room to the larger Cabinet area, and adds a sense of dignity and power that was not there in the original design. Robert Taylor, the architect who designed and executed this beautiful, ingenious concept, was knighted on its completion. ^[61] (See The Modern Cabinet Room: Two photographs taken by Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin, c1927 View looking toward the screen [16] and View from the Screen [17]) ^{[62] [63]}

Although Kent intended the First Lord to use this grand space as his personal office, it has rarely served that purpose; it has almost always been the room where the Cabinet meets. The First Lord now has no designated space in Number 10 like the American President’s Oval Office in the White House. Each one has chosen for himself one of the adjoining rooms as his private office.

The State Dining Room

When Frederick Robinson (later, Lord Goderich), became Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1823, he decided to leave a personal legacy to the nation. To this end, he employed Sir John Soane, the distinguished architect who had designed the Bank of England and many other famous buildings, to design a State Dining Room for Number 10. Begun in 1825 and completed in 1829 at a cost of £2,000, the result was a handsome dining room with oak paneled walls and reeded moldings. Accessed through the first floor, its magnificent vaulted, arched ceiling is raised through the next so that it actually occupies two floors. ^{[64] [65]} (See The State Dining Room c1930: View toward the entrance [18] ^[66] and View from the entrance [19]) ^[67]

A Precious Jewel: 1902-present

When Lord Salisbury died in 1902, his nephew, Arthur James Balfour, became Prime Minister. It was an easy transition: he was already First Lord of the Treasury and Leader of the House of Commons, and he was already living in Number 10. During his uncle’s final years when he was ill or abroad - which was often - Balfour was virtual Prime Minister.

Salisbury was the last Prime Minister who was not First Lord of the Treasury. Preferring to deal directly with international relations himself, he took the office of Foreign Secretary, assigning the Treasury to others. When Balfour became Prime Minister, he revived the old custom Walpole had started almost two hundred years earlier and it has remained so since. In 1937, the Ministers of the Crown Act formalized this custom; the law links the two offices – one legal and the other political - by giving a salary to the person who is First Lord of the Treasury and Prime Minister.

Salisbury was also the last Prime minister who did not make Number 10 his official home. From 1877, when Disraeli moved into Number 10 - after it had been vacant or used as offices for 40 years – the house has been - with the exception of Salisbury - occupied continuously by the Prime Minister. Salisbury reluctantly resided in Number 10 briefly from 1886 to 1887 during his first ministry, but then moved out. He lived at his home on Arlington Street in St. James's and his estate at Hatfield House while Prime Minister from 1887-1892 and 1895-1902.

In 1902, Balfour revived the custom that Number 10 is the Prime Minister's official residence. There is no law that requires him to live in Number 10, and there have been a few times when they have unofficially lived elsewhere. Winston Churchill, for example, grudgingly slept in the heavily bunkered Annex of Number 10 for his safety during World War II. But, to reassure the people that his government was functioning normally, he insisted on being seen entering and leaving Number 10 for work and dining. Harold Wilson, during his second ministry from 1974 to 1976, lived in his house on Lord North Street. However, recognizing its symbolic importance, he maintained, with the complicity of the media, the public illusion of living in Number 10; he worked there every day, held meetings, made public announcements, and dined with colleagues and foreign guests.

Nevertheless, because of the advent of photography and the penny press late in the 19th century, Number 10 had already become linked in the public mind with the Prime Ministry by 1902. With the introduction of films and television, it would become more so as the 20th century progressed. Photographs and films of Prime Ministers at the front door greeting or saying good bye to distinguished visitors became common place.

Mohandas Ghandi in front of Number 10 after his meeting with Prime Minister Ramsey MacDonald in 1931 to discuss India's independence. With the advent of photography, pictures like this became common place; it became obligatory that Prime Ministers, heads of state, celebrities and even ordinary people pose in front of Number 10's famous door.

With or with the Prime Minister present, visitors posed at the front door for a picture to be taken as if to add credibility to their visit. In 1913, for example, suffragettes stood in front of the door petitioning Herbert Asquith for women’s rights. In 1931, Mohandas Gandhi had his picture taken leaving Number 10 after meeting with Ramsey MacDonald to discuss India's independence. Couse’s elegant, understated door – stark black and framed in muted white with a bold white “10” clearly visible - was the perfect backdrop to record such occasions. Prime Ministers made historic announcements from the front step. In 1939, for example, Neville Chamberlain proclaimed “Peace in Our Time” from Number 10’s after his return from meeting Adolf Hitler in Munich. Because of its symbolic importance, Number 10 became a gathering place for protestors. In 1913, for example, Sylvia Pankhurst and 1,000 suffragettes stormed Downing Street; in the 1960’s, anti-Vietnam War protestors marched there. Number 10 became an obligatory stop in every tourist’s sightseeing trip to London. Ordinary people, not only British but from all over the world, posed smiling and laughing in front of its famous door.

Security at Number 10 After the 1991 Bombing

After the 1991 Bombing, security at Number 10 was greatly enhanced. An iron gate now blocks access to the street; visitors can only view the Prime Minister's residence from a distance, as seen in this picture.

From the day in 1735 that Walpole entered his grand, newly renovated home, Number 10 Downing Street had always been accessible to the public. There was some security but it was minimal: police standing guard at the front and back.

All of this changed after 1991. On February 7, 1991, the Provisional IRA used a white van parked in Whitehall to launch a mortar shell at Number 10. It exploded in the back garden, blowing in the windows of the Cabinet Room while Prime Minister John Major was holding a Cabinet meeting. Major moved to Admiralty House while repairs were completed.

Because of this attack, heavy security measures are now present, if not always visible. A police officer traditionally stands outside the black front door of Number 10 — a door which has no keyhole on the outside; it can only be opened from the inside. A second police officer is on permanent duty on the other side of the front door, so there is always someone there to open it for the Prime Minister. Gates were installed at both ends of the street during the premiership of Margaret Thatcher. Tourists are still allowed access to the street, providing prior security checks are run and they adhere to certain protocol.^{citation needed} A guardhouse stands at the gated entrance accommodating several uniformed heavily armed police. The Metropolitan Police Service's DPG (Diplomatic Protection Group) provides protection for ministers in London, acting on the Security Service's intelligence.

More covert security measures exist. For example, plain-clothed armed police patrol along the roofline of the street and in the vicinity of Whitehall itself. A bunker linked to other government and transport amenities are thought to exist under the street.^{citation needed}

The Re-Building of Number 10 Downing Street: 1960-1963

In reality, two and a half centuries of use as government residences has led to so much interlinking between the houses that it can be hard to know where one ends and the other one begins. The walls between not only the houses on Downing Street, but also the adjacent houses behind them on Horseguards Parade, have been knocked through and the buildings integrated.

In the 1950s, it became clear that No. 10 was in such a poor state of repair that it was in immediate danger of collapse. The pillars in the cabinet room that held the upper stories in place were themselves found to be held together by little more than two hundred years of layers of over painting and varnish, with the internal original wood having rotted away almost to dust. After considering demolishing the entire street, it was decided that, as occurred in the White House in the 1950s, the façade would be preserved while the interior would be gutted down to the foundations, and a copy of the original building erected using modern steel and concrete, over which furnishings of the original interior could be grafted. Much of this sensitive work was carried out by the architect Raymond Erith; his partner Quinlan Terry was later employed to redecorate some rooms in the 1980s.

When builders examined the exterior façade, they discovered that the black colour visible even in the first photographs from the mid-nineteenth century was misleading – the bricks were actually yellow, the black look being a product of two centuries of severe pollution. It was decided to preserve the 'traditional' look of more recent times, so the newly cleaned yellow bricks were then painted black to resemble their well-known appearance.

In a letter to Christopher Jones that he reproduced in his book No. 10 Downing Street, The Story of a House, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher summarised the feelings that she and many other British people have toward the house she lived in for eleven years from 1979 to 1990: “All Prime Ministers are intensely aware that, as tenants and stewards of No. 10 Downing Street, they have in their charge one of the most precious jewels in the nation's heritage." ^[68]

Residents of Number 10 Downing Street and The House at the Back (1650-present)

Prime Ministers are indicated in bold.

Notes

References

• Bolitho, Hector (1957). No. 10 Downing Street: 1660-1900. Hutchinson. 
• Feely, Terence (1982). No. 10, The Private Lives of Six Prime Ministers. Sidgewick and Jackson. 
• Jones, Christopher (1985). No. 10 Downing Street: The Story of a House. The Leisure Circle. 
• Minney, R.J. (1963). No. 10 Downing Street: A House in History. Boston: Little, Brown and Company. 

See also

• Chequers - the Prime Minister's official country residence
• Sybil - a cat employed as a mouser at 10 Downing Street
• 24 Sussex Drive - the Canadian equivalent
• 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue - the U.S. equivalent

External links

• Official website
  • Prime Ministers in History
  • History of the building
  • Virtual Tour of 10 Downing Street
• 10 Downing Street section from the Survey of London