10 Downing Street Fact File

The Most Famous Door in Britain 10 Downing St Fact File 10 Downing Street has housed British prime ministers since 1735. The house has 3 functions - it is the official residence of the Prime Minister, it is their office and it is the place where they entertain guests - such as the Queen & world leaders. The Building is much larger than it looks & has spread itself out to much of 12 Downing Street accessed through a corridor in 11 Downing Street. 10 George Downing He was a brutal diplomat - he traded secrets is responsible for the street and the building we know today. to gain him a Royal pardon & became knighted in 1660. He secured leases to the property in 1682 & Sir Christopher Wren began designing the houses. In 1684 the existing houses were pulled down & a cul-de-sac was built, Downing Street. The houses were cheaply built. Originally number 10 was numbered as number 5 - this was changed in 1779 King George |l presented the house on Downing Street to Sir Robert Walpole, who held the title First Lord of the Treasury and effectively served as the first Prime Minister. Walpole refused the property as a personal gift. Instead, he asked the king to make it available as an official residence to him and to future First Lords of the Treasury – starting the tradition that continues today. The brass letterbox on the black front door is still engraved with this title. The next Prime Minister to move into Downing Street was Lord North (1770 to 1782). Major improvements were made to the house during this time, including the addition of: the black and white chequerboard floor in the entrance hall, the lamp above the front door and the lion's head door knocker. Downing Street went downhill from here and things became so bad that by 1839 there were plans to demolish Number 10 and the other buildings on Downing Street to make way for a remodelled WWhitehall. The late 19th and early 20th century saw 10 Downing Street transformed into a grand residence with modern facilities. But by the 1950s, the material state of 10 Downing Street had reached crisis point. In the 1960's Number 10 was completely gutted. It was discovered that the exterior bricks were not actually black - but yellow. The black colour had come from decades of pollution. The cleaned bricks were then painted black to keep a familiar appearance. A terrorist IRA bomb exploded in 1991in the garden of Number 10, only a few metres away from where John Major was chairing a Cabinet meeting to discuss the Gulf War. In 2006 Tony Blair authorised a new programme of improvements, with the building remaining operational throughout. Did you Know? Number 10 has it's own Cat, Larry, with the title 'Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office'. He was introduced in 2011. Did you Know? Did you Know? The front door cannot be opened from the outside because it has no handle. It is one of the most heavily guarded buildings in Britain. The last private resident of No 10 Downing Street was called Mr Chicken. Nobody knows anything about him other than his name. He moved out in 1732 This has been sponsored by www.adamson-doors.co.uk Suppliers of a range of quality interior & exterior doors.