|
|
|
|
10 Downing Street
|
| |
|
| |
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's government, it is the Prime Minister's home and place of work with offices for secretaries, assistants and advisors.
Discussion
Ask a question about '10 Downing Street' Start a new discussion about '10 Downing Street' Answer questions from other users |
Recent Posts
Encyclopedia
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's 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 Houses of Parliament, and Buckingham Palace, the official London residence of Queen Elizabeth II.
Number 10 was originally three houses. In 1732, King George II offered them to Sir Robert Walpole who accepted but only on the condition that they be a gift to the office of First Lord of the Treasury rather than to him personally. 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. 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. In 1985, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher said Number 10 had become "one of the most precious jewels in the national heritage".
Early history
The original Number 10
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 10. The townhouse, from which the modern building gets its name, was one of several built by Sir George Downing between 1682 and 1684.
Downing, a notorious spy for Oliver Cromwell and later King Charles II, invested shrewdly in properties and acquired considerable wealth. In 1654, he purchased the lease on a parcel of land south of Saint James's Park, adjacent to the house at the back, within walking distance of Parliament. Downing planned to build a row of townhouses designed "for persons of good quality to inhabit in..." The street on which he built these homes now bears his name, and the largest became part of today's Number 10 Downing Street.
Straightforward as this investment seemed, it proved otherwise. 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 and consequently had to wait thirty years before he could build his houses.
When the Hampden lease expired, Downing received permission to build further west 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."
Between 1682 and 1684, Downing built a 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 5" for a while; it did not become "10" until 1787.
Downing employed the renowned architect Sir Christopher Wren to design his houses. Although large, they were put up quickly and cheaply 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 Number 10 was "shaky and lightly built by the profiteering contractor whose name they bear."
The upper end of the Downing Street cul de sac closed off access to St. James's Park, making the street quiet and private. An advertisement in 1720, described it 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." The homes had several distinguished residents. The Countess of Yarmouth lived at Number 10 between 1688 and 1689; Lord Lansdowne from 1692 to 1696; and, the Earl of Grantham from 1699 to 1703.
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.
History of the "House at the Back" before 1733
"The House at the Back", the largest original part of the First Lord and Prime Minister's residence, was a stately mansion originally constructed around 1530 next to Whitehall Palace, then the primary royal residence. It was one of several buildings that made up the "Cockpit Lodgings", so-called because they were attached to an 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 Glorious Revolution in 1688, some of the first Cabinet meetings were secretly held in the Cockpit.
During Tudor times, the house at the back was the home of the Keeper of Whitehall Palace. 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.
From this time, royalty and government officials usually 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 the house at the back symbolically links the Stuart and Hanover royal families.
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 Lord of the Great Treasury Commission of 1667-1672 that transformed royal accounting and allowed the Crown greater control over expenses. These measures laid the foundations for the legal authority of the 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 official home of the First Lord of the Treasury and Prime Minister.
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 spacious mansion, lying parallel to Whitehall Palace. From its secluded garden there was a full view of St. James's Park where deer grazed and noble men and women strolled on pathways lined with trees and sculpture.
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. The Crown authorized extensive rebuilding once again that included widening the garden and adding a storey, giving the house three main floors, plus an attic and basement. The resulting mansion can be seen today as the rear section of Number 10. (See Plan of the Premises Granted to the Earl and Countess of Lichfield in 1677 )
The likely reason that extensive repair was required so soon after Buckingham's renovations is that the house had settled in the swampy ground near the Thames, causing structural damage. Pepys records a high tide when Whitehall was under water and buildings in the area require deep foundations to avoid settling. 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.
The Litchfield family followed James II into exile after the Glorious Revolution. In 1690, the new monarchs, King William III and Queen Mary II, offered the house to Hendrik van Nassau-Ouwerkerk, a Dutch general who had assisted in securing the Crown for the then-Prince of Orange. Nassau, who Anglicized his named to "Overkirk", lived in the house at the back—now called Overkirk House—until his death in 1708.
The house reverted to the Crown when Lady Overkirk died in 1720. 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." (See Buildings on the Site of the Cockpit and Number 10 Downing Street c1720 )
Johann Caspar von Bothmar, Count Bothmar, envoy from Hanover and advisor to George I and II, took up residency in 1720. Although Bothmar complained bitterly about "the ruinous Condition of the Premises", he lived there until his death in 1732.
The First Lord's House: 1733–1735
When Count Bothmar died, ownership of the house at the back 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 services to the nation: stabilizing its finances, keeping it at peace and securing the Hanoverian succession. Coincidentally, the King had obtained the leases on two Downing Street properties, including Number 10, and added these to his proposed gift.
Walpole did not want to accept the gift for himself. Shrewd and wealthy, perhaps he did not want to burden himself by adding to his holdings, or perhaps he knew the houses 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.
The arrangement made, Walpole set about uniting the properties. Wanting to enlarge the new house, Walpole persuaded Mr Chicken, the tenant of the cottage next door, to move to another house in Downing Street. Mr Chicken's former residence and the house at the back were then incorporated into Number 10.
Walpole commissioned William Kent to convert them into one building. Kent joined the 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 an inner courtyard. He then connected the Downing Street houses with a corridor, now called the Treasury Passage.
Having united the structures, Kent gutted them: tearing down walls, ripping up floors, removing staircases, and dismantling fireplaces. Craftsmen created a stone triple staircase with no visible supports 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 Number 10. Black and white photographic portraits of all the Prime Ministers from Walpole to the present decorate the wall going up; there are two of Sir Winston Churchill. (See The Main Stairway c1930 General view showing portraits of the Prime Ministers and Detail of the Wrought Iron Balustrade )
Although Kent left the house at the back with three floors, he surmounted it with a pediment adding height and interest to the structure. To allow Walpole quicker access to Parliament, he closed the north side entrance from St. James's Park, and made the door on Downing Street the main entrance.
The rebuilding took three years. On September 23 1735, the London Daily Post announced that: "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."
Walpole did not enter through the door that is now so famous. That would not be installed until forty years later. However, like Number 10's famous door, Kent's was also modest, belying the spacious elegance beyond. The First Lord's new, albeit temporary, home had sixty rooms, with hardwood and marble floors, crown moulding, elegant pillars and marble mantelpieces; those on the west side with beautiful views of St. James's Park. (See Examples of Mantle Pieces in Number Ten. Mantle piece in the Secretary's Room c1927 and Mantle Piece in the Prime Minister's Bedroom c1927 )
One of the largest rooms was a study for Walpole, measuring forty feet by twenty with enormous windows overlooking St James's Park. The room was and still is magnificent; its impressive size is easily seen in many paintings and photographs. "My Lord's Study" (as Kent labelled it in his drawings) would later be famous as the Cabinet room where Prime Ministers meet with their subordinate ministers. A portrait of Walpole hangs over the fireplace behind the Prime Minister's chair; it is the only picture in the room. (See Modern Cabinet Room:)
The total final cost of conversion is unknown. The original estimate was £8,000, but it probably exceeded £20,000, a very large sum at that time.
Shortly 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". The terrace and garden still exist. The terrace, extending across the back of Number 10, provides a full view of St James's Park. The garden, which gives its name to the "garden girls" of the Prime Minister's office, is mostly a large half acre lawn that wraps around Numbers 10, 11, and 12 in an L-shape with a small centrally located flower bed. (See North elevation of Number Ten with steps leading to the garden ) Over the years the terrace and garden 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 10 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."
A "vast, awkward house": 1735–1902
Walpole lived in Number 10 for seven years until 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 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 enjoyed living there. Lord North lived happily in Number 10 with his family for fifteen years from 1767 to 1782. Within its walls, he conducted the war against the American Colonies' rebellion. William Pitt the Younger made it his home for twenty years—longer than any First Lord before or since—from 1783 to 1801 and from 1804 to 1806. He affectionately referred to Number 10 in a letter to his mother as "My vast, awkward house." While there, Pitt reduced the national debt, formed the Triple Alliance against France, and won passage of the Act of Union that created the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Fredrick Robinson, Lord Goderich, took a special liking to the house in the late 1820s when he was Chancellor of the Exchequer and later First Lord; he spent state funds lavishly remodeling the interior.
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 home, Fife House, during his ministry from 1812 to 1827. Lord Grey did live in Number 10 during his ministry and conducted his campaign for passage of the Great Reform Act of 1832 while there. But, after Grey resigned, his immediate successors—Melbourne, Peel, Russell, Derby, Aberdeen and Palmerstone—lived elsewhere, as did Gladstone and Disraeli at least during 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, personal and political rivalry over the issues of their time—Empire vs "Little England", expansion of the franchise, labor reform, and Irish Home Rule—was documented almost daily by the new penny press and photographs. This rivalry 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 were Prime Minister; there was something of a reversion to the earlier pattern until 1902.
One reason many First Lords chose not to make Number 10 their official residence was that most were peers who owned 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. 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. Lord Liverpool assigned it to his two Chancellors of the Exchequer, Nicholas Vansittart (1812–1823) and Frederick Robinson (1823–1827). A few peers did live in Number 10 out of necessity. The Duke of Wellington, for example, grudgingly lived there for eighteen months between 1828 and 1830 because his own home, Apsley House, was undergoing extensive renovations. He left as soon as it was finished. Even at the end of the nineteenth century, Lord Salisbury, the last peer to be Prime Minister, preferred living in his house on Arlington Street and the Cecil family estate Hatfield House. During his last ministry from 1895 to 1902, his nephew, Arthur Balfour, lived in Number 10.
Another reason many First Lords chose not to live in Number 10 was that it was awkward and hazardous. Prone to sinking because it was built on soft soil and a shallow foundation, floors buckled and the walls and chimneys cracked. The building 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 ..." 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", should be finished. (See Kent's Treasury and No. 10, Downing Street, circa 1754.)
Treasury officials 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 ..." 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." 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!" (See Plan of the Design for Number Ten c1781 )
To make matters worse, the Downing Street neighbourhood declined at the turn of the nineteenth century. Surrounded by rundown buildings, dark alleys, crime and prostitution, it was an unsavoury 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). Then, in 1879, a fire destroyed the upper floors of Number 12; it was renovated but only as a single storey structure. (See Numbers 10, 11, and 12 Downing Street First Floor Plan and Ground Floor Plan )
Description of rooms and special features in Number 10 Downing Street
Despite its history of chronic deterioration, the expense of maintaining it, and the frequent calls for its demolition, Number 10 survived. Many features added during the 18th and 19th centuries are still present today.
Number 10's famous front door
Most of the modern 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 outside appearance 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; it was probably not completed until 1772. Executed in the Georgian style by the architect Kenton Couse, it is considered a masterpiece of understatement. Unassuming and narrow, it consists of a single white stone step leading to a modest brick front. The small, six-panelled 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. (See The Entrance Door: As seen from the outside )
Beyond the door, Couse installed black and white marble tiles 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 Exchequer's residence. Finally, he added a bow front to the small cottage—formerly Mr. Chicken's house—incorporated into Number 10 in Walpole's time. (See The Entrance Door: As seen from inside showing the black and white marble floor and the door providing access to Number 11 )
The Cabinet Room
In Kent's design for the enlarged Number 10, the Cabinet Room was a simple rectangular space with enormous windows. As part of the renovations begun in 1783, the Cabinet Room was extended, giving the space its modern appearance. Probably not completed until 1796, this alteration was achieved by removing the east wall and rebuilding it several feet inside the adjoining secretaries' room. At the entrance, a screen of two pairs of Corinthian columns was erected (to carry the extra span of the ceiling) supporting a moulded entablature that wraps around the room. The resulting small space, framed by the pillars, serves as an ante-room to the larger area, and adds a sense of power that was not there before. Hendrick Danckerts' painting "The Palace of Whitehall (shown at the beginning of this article) usually hangs in the ante-room. Robert Taylor, the architect who executed this concept, was knighted on its completion. (See Simon Schama's Tour of Downing Street. Pt2: The Cabinet Room See also The Modern Cabinet Room: Two photographs taken by Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin, c1927 View looking toward the screen and View from the Screen )
Although Kent intended the First Lord to use this space as his personal office, it has rarely served that purpose; it has almost always been the Cabinet room. The First Lord 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 Great Kitchen
The second part of the renovations begun in 1783 was the creation of a great kitchen (that still exists today) in the basement, probably also under the direction of Robert Taylor. Seldom seen by anyone other than staff, the space is two storeys high with a huge arched window and vaulted ceiling. Traditionally, it has always had a chopping block work table in the centre that is long, wide and thick. (See The Kitchen c1930 View showing the table, window and ceiling )
The Pillared Room
The modern Number 10 has three inter-linked State Drawing rooms. The largest is the Pillared Room thought to have been created in 1796 by Taylor. Measuring long by wide, it takes its name from the two pillars at one end. For most state occasions, guests are received in this room before going into the State Dining Room for dinner. Constantly in use for receptions, the Pillared Room is left almost empty with a few chairs around the walls. (See The Pillared Drawing Room c1927 )
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 build a State Dining Room for Number 10. Begun in 1825 and completed in 1826 at a cost of £2,000, the result is a spacious room with oak panelling and reeded mouldings. Accessed through the first floor, its vaulted, arched ceiling rises up through the next so that it actually occupies two floors. Measuring by , it is the largest room in Number 10; it will comfortably accommodate up to 65 guests at its horseshoe-shaped table. First used on April 4, 1826, Soane was the guest of honour. (See Simon Schama's Tour of Downing Street. Pt 3: The Dining Room
See also The State Dining Room c1930: View toward the entrance and View from the entrance )
The Small Dining or Breakfast Room
Above Taylor's vaulted kitchen, between the Pillared Room and the State Dining room, Soane created a Smaller Dining Room (sometimes called the Breakfast Room), which still exists. To build it, Soane removed the chimney from the kitchen to put a door in the room. He then moved the chimney to the east side, running a Y-shaped split flue inside the walls up either side of one of the windows above. Intimate and comfortable with its flat unadorned ceiling, simple mouldings and deep window seats, Prime Ministers have often used this small room for dining with family or for smaller, more personal state occasions. (See the Small Dining or Breakfast Room c1927. The double doors behind the table lead to the Pillared Room. )
"A Precious Jewel": 1902–present
Revival and recognition
When Lord Salisbury retired 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. He was also the last who did not make Number 10 his official home. From 1877 when Disraeli moved into Number 10 the house had 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.
Balfour revived the custom that Number 10 is the First Lord and Prime Minister's official residence. It has remained the custom since, although there have been times when Prime Ministers have unofficially lived elsewhere. Winston Churchill for example had a great affection for Number 10, but he grudgingly slept in the bunkered Annex of Number 10 for his safety during World War II. To reassure the people that his government was functioning normally, he insisted on being seen entering and leaving Number 10 occasionally. Harold Wilson, during his second ministry from 1974 to 1976, lived in his home on Lord North Street because Lady Wilson wanted "a proper home". Recognising its symbolic importance, he maintained with media complicity, the public illusion of living in Number 10; he worked there every day, holding meetings, and entertaining in the State Dining Room.
Photography and the penny press had by this time already linked Number 10 in the public mind with the Premiership. The introduction of films and television would strengthen this association even more. Pictures of Prime Ministers at the front door with distinguished guests became commonplace. With or without the Prime Minister present, visitors had their picture taken. Suffragettes posed in front of the door when they petitioned Herbert Asquith for women's rights in 1913, a picture that became famous and was circulated around the world. In 1931, Mohandas Gandhi, wearing the traditional homespun dhoti, posed leaving Number 10 after meeting with Ramsey MacDonald to discuss India's independence. This picture, too, became famous especially in India. Illiterate peasants could see their leader had been received in the Prime Minister's home. Couse's elegant, understated door—stark black, framed in cream white with a bold white "10" clearly visible—was the perfect backdrop to record such events. Prime Ministers made historic announcements from the front step. Waving the Anglo-German Agreement of Friendship, Neville Chamberlain proclaimed "Peace With Honour" in 1938 from Number 10 after his meeting with Adolf Hitler in Munich. During World War II, Churchill was photographed many times emerging confidently from Number 10 holding up two fingers in the sign for "Victory". The symbol of British government, Number 10 became a gathering place for protestors. Emily Pankhurst and other suffragette leaders stormed Downing Street in 1908; anti-Vietnam War protestors marched there in the 1960s, as did anti-Iraq War protestors in the 2000s. Number 10 became an obligatory stop in every tourist's sightseeing trip to London. Ordinary people, not only British but foreign tourists, posed smiling and laughing in front of its famous door.
Rebuilding Number 10: 1960–1990
By the middle of the 20th century, Number 10 was falling apart again. The deterioration had been obvious for some time. The number of people allowed in the upper floors at one time had been limited for fear the bearing walls would collapse. The staircase had sunk several inches; some steps were buckled and the balustrade was out of alignment. An investigation ordered by Prime Minister Harold Macmillan in 1958 concluded that there was widespread dry rot. The interior wood in the Cabinet Room's double columns was like sawdust. Baseboards, doors, sills and other woodwork were riddled and weakened with disease. After reconstruction had begun, miners dug down into the foundations and found that the huge wooden beams supporting the house had decayed.
There was some discussion of tearing down the building, along with Numbers 11 and 12, and constructing entirely new residences. But that was never really an option. The Prime Minister's home had become an icon of British architecture as cherished as Windsor Castle, Buckingham Palace and the Houses of Parliament. Instead, it was decided that Number 10 (and Numbers 11 and 12) would be rebuilt using as much of the original materials as possible. The interior would be carefully photographed, measured, disassembled, and restored. A modern foundation with deep pilings would be laid. Then the original buildings would be reassembled on top of it, allowing for much needed expansion of the space and modernisation. Any original materials that were beyond repair—such as the pair of double columns in the Cabinet Room—would be replicated in minute detail. This was a formidable undertaking: the three buildings contain over 200 rooms spread out over five floors. The renowned architect Raymond Erith carried out this painstaking work.
The Times reported that initially the estimated cost for the project was £400,000. After more careful studies were completed, it was concluded that the "total cost was likely to be £1,250,000" and would take two years to complete. In the end, the final cost was close to £3,000,000 and took almost three years due in large part to 14 labour strikes (including a three month work stoppage). There were also unforeseen delays due to archaeological excavations when important artifacts were found dating from Roman, Saxon and mediaeval times when the area was still known as Thorny Island. Macmillan lived in Admiralty House during the reconstruction.
The new foundation was made of steel-reinforced concrete with pilings sunk to . The "new" Number 10 consisted of about 60% new materials; the remaining 40% was either restored or replicas of originals. The garden floor—including the door and entrance foyer, the stairway, the hallway to the Cabinet Room, the Cabinet Room, the garden and terrace, the Small and Large State Rooms and the three reception rooms—was reconstructed exactly as in the old Number 10. The upper floors were modernised and the 3rd floor extended over Numbers 11 and 12 to allow more living space. As many as 40 coats of paint were stripped from the elaborate cornices in the main rooms revealing details unseen for almost 200 years in some cases. When builders examined the exterior façade, they discovered that the black colour visible even in photographs from the mid-nineteenth century was misleading; the bricks were actually yellow. The black appearance was the product of two centuries of pollution. To preserve the 'traditional' look of recent times, the newly cleaned yellow bricks were painted black to resemble their well-known appearance.
Generally, the reconstruction was considered an architectural triumph. Erith, however, was disappointed. He complained openly during the project and afterward that the government had altered his design in many ways to save money. "I am heart broken," he said, "by the result ... the whole project has been a frightful waste of money because it just has not been done properly. The Ministry of Works has insisted on economy after economy. I am bitterly disappointed with what has happened."
Erith's concerns proved justified. Within a few years, extensive dry rot was discovered, especially in the main rooms of Number 10 due to inadequate water-proofing and a broken water pipe. Extensive reconstruction again had to be undertaken to resolve these problems. In the late 1980s, to celebrate Britain's past glory and her renewed status as a world power after the Falklands War, Margaret Thatcher commissioned Quinlan Terry, Erith's partner, to redecorate the main rooms. Among other modern details, Terry added ornate Baroque-style central ceiling mouldings and, in the corners, the four national flowers of Britain: rose (England), thistle (Scotland), daffodil (Wales) and shamrock (Ireland).
Security at Number 10 after the 1991 bombing
From the day in 1735 when Walpole entered his newly renovated home, Number 10 had been accessible to the public. There had always been some security but it was minimal: a policeman standing guard at the front door.
Gates had already been installed at both ends of the street during the premiership of Margaret Thatcher due to terrorist threats. Because of this actual attack, heavier security measures were imposed, if not always visible.
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.
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. 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.
Number 10's 250th anniversary: 1985
Number 10 became 250 years old in 1985. To celebrate, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher hosted a grand dinner at Number 10 in the State Dining Room for her living predecessors—Harold Macmillan, Alec Douglas-Home, Harold Wilson, Edward Heath, and James Callaghan—and Queen Elizabeth II.. Also in attendance were representatives of the families of every 20th century Prime Minister since Asquith, including Olwen Carey Evans (daughter of Lloyd George), Lorna Howard (daughter of Stanley Baldwin), and Clarissa Avon (widow of Anthony Eden).
The same year, the Leisure Circle published Christopher Jones' book No. 10 Downing Street, The Story of a House. The foreword is a letter from Thatcher in which she summarises the feelings that she and many other British people have toward Number 10: "How much I wish that the public ... could share with me the feeling of Britain's historic greatness which pervades every nook and cranny of this complicated and meandering old building ... 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."
The Prime Minister's Office
The Prime Minister's office, for which the terms Downing Street and No. 10 are synonymous, lies within 10 Downing Street and is headed by a Chief of Staff and staffed by a mix of career civil servants and special advisers. It provides the Prime Minister with support and advice on policy, communications with parliament, government departments and public/media relations.
The office was reorganised in 2001 into 3 directories:
- Policy and government
Took over the functions of the Private office and policy unit. Prepares advice for the PM and coordinates development and implementation of policy across departments - Communication and strategy, contains 3 units:
- Press office: responsible for relations with the media
- Strategic communications unit
- Research and information unit: provides factual information to No. 10
- Government and political relations: Handles party/public relations
Changes were intended to strengthen the PM's office. However, some commentators have suggested that Blair's reforms have created something similar to a 'Prime Ministers' department.' The reorganisation brought about the fusion of the Prime Minister's Office and the Cabinet Office—a number of units within the Cabinet Office are directly responsible to the Prime Minister.
See also
External links
-
- section from the Survey of London
- Plans of 10, 11 and 12 Downing Street (published 1931): ; ; floors
|
| |
|
|
