Your saves are on this device only.
Your browser may clear them at any time. You won't be able to see them on other devices. Create a free account or sign in to keep them safe in the cloud.
A political history of Britain in the places where it happened: parliament and palace, courts and counting houses, and the streets where people pushed back.
The most famous front door in Britain belongs to a Restoration speculator's cheap terrace.
Government & ParliamentFree to enter
Also in Monuments & Ruins.
George Downing - a diplomat who served Cromwell, changed sides at the Restoration and bought his pardon with intelligence - ran up a row of houses here in the 1680s on politically valuable ground. Today's Number 10 began as Number 5, and only became the centre of British government in 1735, when Robert Walpole refused it as a personal gift from George II and took it instead for whoever held the office of First Lord of the Treasury. William Kent then joined the narrow Downing Street house to a much grander one behind it facing Horse Guards, so the famous facade is really the entrance passage to the real house. The letterbox still reads First Lord of the Treasury, which is what a prime minister formally is.
Submit a correction for this listing.
Data is compiled from public sources including OpenStreetMap, under the ODbL. Hours change often, so check before making a journey.