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Downing Street in Westminster

Monday, 29 August 2016 - 11:00 am (CET/MEZ) Berlin | Author/Destination: Great Britain / Großbritannien
Category/Kategorie: General, London Reading Time:  6 minutes

🔊 Listen to this Post Downing Street in London has for more than three hundred years housed the official residences of two of the most senior British Cabinet ministers: the First Lord of the Treasury, an office now synonymous with that of Prime Minister of the United Kingdom; and the Second Lord of the Treasury, an office held by the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The Prime Minister’s official residence is 10 Downing Street; the Chancellor’s official residence is next door at Number 11. The government’s Chief Whip has an official residence at Number 12, although the current Chief Whip’s residence is at Number 9. Downing Street is in Whitehall in the City of Westminster, a few minutes’ walk from the Houses of Parliament and a little further from Buckingham Palace. The street was built in the 1680s by Sir George Downing on the site of a mansion, Hampden House. The houses on the south side of the street were demolished in the 19th century to make way for government offices now occupied by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. “Downing Street” is used as a metonym for the Government of the United Kingdom.

The street was built in the 1680s by Sir George Downing, 1st Baronet, on the site of a mansion, Hampden House. Downing was a soldier and diplomat who served under Oliver Cromwell and King Charles II, and who invested in properties and acquired considerable wealth. In 1654, he purchased the lease on land east of Saint James’s Park, adjacent to the House at the Back, and within walking distance of parliament. Downing planned to build a row of townhouses “for persons of good quality to inhabit”. However, the Hampden family had a lease which prevented their construction for 30 years. When the Hampden lease expired, Downing received permission to build further west to take advantage of recent developments. The new warrant issued in 1682 reads: “Sir George Downing … [is authorised] 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.”

Houses in Downing Street

• 9 Downing Street, named in 2001, is the Downing Street entrance to the Privy Council Office and houses the Chief Whip‘s office. It was formerly part of Number 10.
• 10 Downing Street is the official residence of the First Lord of the Treasury, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, as with almost no exceptions, the two roles have been filled by the same person since the 1720s. It has fulfilled this role since 1735.
• 11 Downing Street has been the official residence of the Second Lord of the Treasury, the Chancellor of the Exchequer since 1828.
• 12 Downing Street, formerly the Chief Whip’s Office, houses the Prime Minister’s Press Office, Strategic Communications Unit and Information and Research Unit. In the 1820s it was occupied by the Judge Advocate-General, although it remained in private ownership. It entered government hands when purchased by the East India Company in 1863, and was occupied by the marine and railway departments of the Board of Trade. It was originally numbered 13, but was partially re-built and re-numbered following the demolition of Number 14 in 1876. It was badly damaged by fire in 1879, and underwent further changes.
• 14 Downing Street formerly closed off the western end of the street. It was acquired by the Crown in 1798, and was used by the War Office and Colonial Office in the 19th century. Some parts were demolished in the 1860s, and by 1876 it had been removed completely.
• 15–16 Downing Street, long since demolished, formerly housed the Foreign Office, which also occupied two houses on the south side of the street.
• 18 Downing Street was occupied by the West India Department of the Colonial Office.
• 20 Downing Street was occupied by the Tithe Commission.

The houses at the end of the street were arranged around Downing Square.

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