10 Downing Street, colloquially known as Number 10, is famous for being the official office and residence of the British Prime Minister. As a building that’s almost 300 years old, there’s a lot of history inside its walls.
For almost 300 years, most British Prime Ministers have called 10 Downing Street “home” with some of the most important decisions this country has ever made, being made there!
This got me thinking, what are some of the facts about Number 10 Downing Street we should all know?
15. It’s Not (Really) Black
When you look at a picture of 10 Downing Street, the black bricks tend to stand out. Even when you look at old, black and white pictures of the iconic building, the bricks were still black.
However, this wasn’t always so. Following WWII, serious renovations were done on the building, seeing contractors rebuild a large part of the building. To do this, the were forced to clean the grime and dirt off the bricks.
This revealed that when the building had been constructed, the bricks were likely a bright yellow color. A few centuries worth of pollution had actually stained the bricks black!
Contractors would rebuild the building with the original yellow bricks. Once work had been completed, the government opted to paint the building black, as this was what the world was most familiar with.
14. The Green Door?
For just about all of history, 10 Downing Street’s door has been black. However, for eight years, between the years of 1908 and 1916, the iconic black door was actually a shade of green!
In 1908, Liberal Prime Minister, H. H. Asquith would order that the black door be repainted green. This was likely at the behest of his wife, Margot Asquith, who believed the green door would make the building look more upper class.
This would remain during his tenure as Prime Minister. In 1916, he was forced to resign due to his failures during WWI. This paved the way for David Lloyd George to become Prime Minister in 1916.
Following David Lloyd George’s rise to power, he would order that the door be repainted in its traditional black color. This is the only time the front door of downing Street has not been black in its entire history.
13. Only One Death
When you look at the official residences of most heads of state, they’ve all seen a fair few deaths. Not so much recently, but especially 50 years ago or so and before!
For example, the White House has had four presidential deaths. The Lodge (the official residence of the Australian PM) has seen three deaths. The Élysée Palace (the official residence of the French President) has also seen four deaths.
10 Downing Street on the other hand, has only seen one. This was the death of Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, who technically wasn’t Prime Minister at the time of his death!
In 1907, Sir Henry’s health began to decline, resulting in him resigning as Prime Minister. Unable to leave the premises, Sir Henry continued to live at Number 10 until his death 19 days after his resignation.
12. Disliked by Many Prime Ministers
Despite Number 10 serving as the official residence of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, a number of former Prime Ministers have been very high profile critics of the now-iconic building.
The first was famed British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger. He referred to the building as a “vast, awkward house”. Instead of moving in, he chose to live in his stately home in Kent.
Another famous example was Benjamin Disraeli. During his time, Downing Street was surrounded by liquor houses, brothels and gin distilleries. Not the kind of places you wanted to hang around at the time.
Because of this, Disraeli referred to it as “dingy and decaying”. He would then have the government pay for refurbishments to the public parts of the house, whilst he payed for the residential parts of the house.
11. Other Buildings on The Street
Downing Street is internationally known for being the street that the Prime Minister lives on, similarly to Pennsylvania Avenue in the US. As with its American counterpart, Downing Street has more than one building on it.
Also on Downing Street are Number 9, 11 and 12 Downing Street. All of these are currently used by high-ranking members of the British Government.
11 Downing Street is the official residence and office of the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Occasionally, the sitting prime minister will choose to make 11 Downing Street their official residence as it is larger than Number 10.
12 Downing Street is the official office and residence of the Chief Whip of the party that is currently in power. Although, many recent Chief Whips have chosen to make 9 Downing Street their home instead.
10. Number… 5?
When Downing Street was originally constructed, most of the houses did not have numbers. Instead, they were given names, reflecting the names of the people who lived in them originally.
Those that didn’t have a name were later designated with numbers. The building that is today known as 10 Downing was not given an official name, and as such was designated as Number 5.
In 1779, as a part of a series of reforms, most street-bound houses lost their official names, in place of numbers. Only manor and farm houses were exempt (as they don’t really lie on streets!)
For Downing Street, this saw practically every house receive a new number. For Number 5, it was redesignated as Number 10 Downing Street. This is an address it holds to this very day!
9. The Letterbox is Useless
In 1991, member of the IRA had attacked 10 Downing Street with homemade mortar shells, in hopes of killing or severely injuring Sir John Major, then-Prime Minster of the UK.
As a precaution, the black oak door that had stood at the entrance of Number 10 since 1735 was replaced. In its place, a reinforced steel replica (virtually indistinguishable from the original) was added.
The original was then put on display at the Churchill Museum in London.
For maximum protection (and to avoid parcel bombs) the letterbox was only placed for show. If you were to try and push any letters through, they simply wouldn’t go through!
When Number 10 receives post, the postman has to walk up to the door and knock. A security guard will then look at the external cameras, and open the door, take the post, and close it again.
8. What Keys?
When I said that the newly issued reinforced steel door was virtually identical to the original, I failed to mention one other alteration they made: The lock.
As with most townhouses of the era, 10 Downing Street’s door had a lock on it. This lock would be opened by a key. However, when they replaced the door, they altered the locking mechanism.
Prior to 1991, the door could be locked with a key dating back to the 18th century. However, following the installation of a new door, this key was renderd useless, as the new door came with a brand new, state-of-the-art lock.
The door can’t actually be opened from the outside! Instead, a security guard has to unlock it from the inside. This means that there is no way to get into Number 10 without the security guard’s permission!
7. Prior Occupants
The entirety of Downing Street was built between 1682 and 1684 by Sir George Downing. During his lifetime, Downing had been one of Oliver Cromwell, and later Charles II’s greatest spies.
As a spy, Downing had amassed a huge amount of wealth, as well as a noble title. Downing would use his wealth to purchase large parcels of land across London, and build a considerable real estate empire for himself.
Here, several lords, earls and countesses would live there initially. Over time, a number of Dukes, lords, earls and even the daughter of James I, would call Downing Street their home.
By 1720, Johann Caspar, the Count Bothmer resided at 10 Downing Street. The Count Bothmer was a close advisor of both King George I and his son, George II. This, technically made Bothmer the first politician to call Number 10 home.
6. Enter Sir Robert Walpole
In 1732, the Count Bothmer died, but having no male heirs, nobody inherited the house, as such, it reverted to the ownership of the Crown.
Having no need for the house, King George II offered 10 Downing Street to Robert Walpole that same year. This was for his services to his country. The king intended for Number 10 to be used as Walpole’s personal home.
Walpole, however, declined such a gift. After much negotiation, Walpole acquiesced, but had one stipulation: The king would gift it to the office of the First Lord of the Treasury, the then-official title of the prime minister.
As its first holder, Walpole would become 10 Downing Street’s first official resident. However, a part of his deal with King George was that when his successor was elected, he would vacate the house.
This is something he would do when his friend, The Earl of Wilmington was elected into office in 1742.
5. Mr Chicken
By the time Sir Robert Walpole had begun living at Downing Street, it was so rundown that only a few people still lived there. Prior to moving in, Walpole convinced many of them to leave.
However, one man still remained: Mr Chicken. Not much is actually known about him besides his name. There are a number of theories as to who it was, but many believe the name was merely an alias for one of London’s elite.
Walpole would spend the first few years he lived there, trying to get Mr Chicken to vacate Downing Street in exchange for somewhere else. Often, this fell of deaf ears, with Mr Chicken refusing to leave.
Eventually, Walpole managed to convince Mr Chicken to leave Downing Street in the mid-1730’s. Then, the trail of Mr Chicken completely dies out, never to be seen or heard from again!
4. Chief Mouser
Due to it being one of the largest homes in the country, Downing Street has always been heated remarkably well. This makes it rather appealing to London’s rodents, especially in the Winter.
Not wanting to spend money on exterminators, many Prime Ministers have opted to use cats to catch (and kill) rodents. Official records show that this practice originated in 1515, but only became standard in 1929.
The cats are given the official title of Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office!
Perhaps the most famous of these cats was Wilberforce, named in honor of William Wilberforce (who ended slavery in the British Empire). He served under four prime ministers between 1973 and 1986.
The current Chief Mouser is Larry. He took office in 2011, after being picked out by then-Prime Minister David Cameron and his family. To date, Larry has been the Chief Mouser under three prime ministers, and likely more in the future!
3. Former Uses?
Prior to becoming 10 Downing Street, the land it currently sits on was still occupied. This was as part of the Palace of Whitehall, the famed palace built by King Henry VIII, which served as his residence from 1530 until his death.
During the English Civil War almost 120 years later, parts of the Palace would be destroyed. Some would be rebuilt, whilst others would not, but the unpopular King Charles II would never live there.
In 1684, part of the ruins would be leased to Sir George Downing, who intended to built a number of large houses on the land. Thus, creating what we know as Downing Street today.
Even prior to becoming the Palace of Whitehall, there is evidence that suggests that Number 10 may have been the site of several other buildings. Mostly these were residential buildings, but one was likely used as a brewery!
2. The Room With Many Names
In the US, when a new president comes in, he or she often redecorates certain parts of the White House to their liking. The same is also true in the UK with our prime ministers!
One of these such areas is the Terracotta State Drawing Room. This room is often the one that you’ll see foreign dignitaries and the Prime Minister have photographed conversations in.
When it was originally built, it was blue, and was used as Robert Walpole’s state dining room. Over time, it was given the official name of the Blue Room.
During her tenure as Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher would have the Blue Room repainted in green. Here it would be called the Green Room.
Today, the Green Room has been repainted in terracotta. Thus, it is known as the Terracotta Room.
1. Bombed it WWII
During WWII, Britain was the subject of intensive bombing by Germany, often known as The Blitz. Here, Germany would drop thousands of tons of bombs on the largest cities in Southern Britain.
Naturally, this would level thousands of buildings in London especially. This led to many people living and working in the bombed out remains of houses, stores and factories.
A number of high-profile buildings in London were also destroyed, such as Buckingham Palace, the Houses of Parliament, the Tower of London. Number 10 was similarly hit, being partially destroyed by German bombs.
Sticking with the British stiff upper lip of the era, Churchill would continue to live and work out of Number 10 until the end of the war. Following the war, the destroyed parts of Number 10 would be rebuilt, as would the rest of London too!
Which are your favorite facts about 10 Downing Street? Tell me in the comments!
Featured image courtesy of Defence Images via Flickr.