No.1 Downing Street, a Georgian-style building, is located in Westminster, London, next to Whitehall in Westminster District. Traditionally, it was the official residence of the First Chancellor of the Exchequer, but since the post was held by the Prime Minister, it has become the official residence of the British Prime Minister. Its simple black wooden door, decorated with white Arabic numeral "1", has become a well-known symbol.
No.1 Downing Street is not only the official residence and office of the Prime Minister, but also the secretary, assistants and advisers of the Prime Minister all work in the official residence. Every day, the Prime Minister formulates policies with his cabinet and think tanks at No.1 Downing Street, and the general confidential departments, such as the National Assembly, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, are only a few minutes away from No.1 Downing Street, so the Prime Minister can easily obtain information and contact. In addition, Buckingham Palace, where the monarch lives, is nearby, so that the Prime Minister can go to Buckingham Palace regularly to report to the monarch on political affairs. There are different conference rooms and dinner halls in the Prime Minister's residence, where the Prime Minister will often meet with leaders from all walks of life and countries. Therefore, Downing Street 1 symbolizes the center of the British government and is also one of the power cores of British politics.
Although No.1 Downing Street is a royal gift from the monarch, many prime ministers in history are reluctant to move in because of its small size, long-term lack of maintenance and being built on bog soil, and some even intend to raze it. In addition, because the post of British Prime Minister was still not clearly established in the 19th century, No.1 Downing Street used to be occupied by other officials, so it was not a real Prime Minister's Office at that time. However, today, No.1 Downing Street has gradually established itself as a symbol of the British Prime Minister, and it is a landmark with great historical value in London. Former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher once said in 1985 that No.1 Downing Street has become "the most precious jewel in the national heritage."
History
The House Behind the Palace (before 1733)
Today's No.1 Downing Street was formed in 1733 by merging the House Behind the Palace with the original No.1 Downing Street. The "house behind the palace" was originally a side house attached to Whitehall Palace and used as a chicken farm. Whitehall Palace was the main residence of the English monarch from 153 to 1698. In fact, the side houses where the chicken farm is located are a group of side houses with different styles built before 153, and the chicken farm occupies the main part of the side houses. In addition, the chicken farm itself is a special building with an octagonal dome on the top. The cockfighting in the chicken farm didn't stop until James I's time, but the name of the chicken farm never changed. In James I's later years, it was changed to a concert hall and a theater, with a dressing room surrounded by green curtains and a three-foot mirror to let the "female comedian change clothes". James I also enjoyed the drama in the chicken farm.
The chicken farm is only a part of the side house group, and the rest is a big house, where the keeper of Whitehall Palace lives and works, and the keeper is also responsible for managing and maintaining the side house group, including the theater. Thomas Knyvet is one of the famous residents. He served as the caretaker of Whitehall Palace in the early 17th century and served Elizabeth I and James I.. Neville was also a justice of the peace and was one of the key figures who smashed the gunpowder plot in 165. Shortly before the gunpowder plot, Neville cleaned up the side house group and let James I's four-year-old son, Prince Charles, live in it, while he moved to the nearby Neville House (later renamed Hampden House).
Prince Charles lived only for a short time, and then the "house behind the palace" became the residence of different people. Including Prince Charles' sister Princess Irina Kaptelova, lord protector oliver cromwell, George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle (George Monck), Prince Orange and later a member of Cabal's cabinet, namely George Villiers, the 2nd Duke of Buckingham. These residents have been rebuilding the "house behind the palace" to varying degrees, making the "house behind the palace" gradually become a luxurious mansion.
in 1677, charles ii's daughter, the Countess of Lichfield, moved to the "house behind the palace". She was dissatisfied with the building of a row house in Downing Street nearby and worried that her privacy would be violated. Therefore, charles ii once ordered a high wall to be built between the row houses and the "house behind the palace" to prevent anyone from peeping from the row houses. Countess litchfield moved out of the "house behind the palace" and went into exile after the glorious revolution in 1688. As for the Dutch aristocrat Henry Nassau, Lord Auverquerque, who helped William III ascend to the throne, he moved in in 169 and renamed the "house behind the palace" as "Overcock House".
Lord Overcock and his wife died in 178 and 172, respectively. After the death of the lady, the Overcock House became the royal property and was renamed as Bopoma House, where the envoys from Hanover, Johann Caspar von Bopoma and Count Bopoma, lived. Count Bopoma was an adviser to George I and George II. After his death in 1732, Bopoma House was once again owned by the royal family.
George Downing's house (before 1733)
george downing was the builder of Downing Street. He grew up in New England and was one of the earliest graduates of Harvard University. Downing returned to England during the English Civil War, and in 165 he became an important think tank of oliver cromwell, so he had great power at that time.
In 1657, Downing was appointed as the British ambassador to The Hague to resist the British royal family in exile. But after Cromwell died in 1658, Downing was replaced by Cromwell's son richard cromwell, the new successor. Downing realized that the life of the English Federation was at stake, so he decided to take refuge in the exiled British royal family, introduce himself to charles ii, and completely draw a line with his former partners. As a result, Downing was appointed by charles ii. Although he was imprisoned in the Tower of London for two months after returning from Holland, he was immediately rewarded handsomely after the restoration of the imperial government.
Tang Ning has long been interested in developing real estate around Westminster Abbey to make a profit. In 1654, he obtained the right to rent Hampden House from the royal family, but it was not until 1682 that Downing obtained the lease because the lease was owned by the descendants of Thomas Neville. After obtaining the lease, he demolished the original house and built 15 to 2 townhouses on the north side of the street. Although these townhouses were designed by the famous architect Sir Christopher Wren, their quality was very poor, and they were built on bog soil. The townhouses in Downing Street were finally completed in 1684, and the emperor named the street Downing Street. The number of houses in Downing Street today was revised in 1779, so No.1 Downing Street today should have been No.5 Downing Street. Downing rented the townhouses in Downing Street as apartments, but he always lived in the manor house in Cambridge, so he never stayed in Downing Street. In fact, several months after the townhouses were built, Downing himself died. When Downing's lease was passed to his grandson, it finally returned to the royal family because he had never lived with his wife and lived an improper life.
The residence of the First Finance Minister (1733-1742)
After the death of Count Bopoma, the "house behind the palace" was once again owned by the royal family. King George II seized the opportunity and gave it to Sir robert walpole to thank him for his special contribution to the royal family and the country in the past 2 years. At the same time, George II obtained leases for two properties and several stables in Downing Street, and one of them was No.1 Downing Street. As a result, the emperor gave walpole No.1 Downing Street.
However, walpole didn't want to accept this reward in his own name, and the reasons were different. Walpole himself is a rich landlord, which may drive him to be unwilling to increase his burden; It is also possible that he knew that the house he was given was built on marsh soil, and he was bound to spend a lot of money on maintenance in the future. Although we don't know the real motive of walpole's refusal today, one thing we know is that the emperor accepted walpole's suggestion and gave the mansion to walpole in the name of the first finance minister, which means that walpole will move out of the mansion and let his successor move in after he leaves the post of first finance minister. After reaching an agreement, walpole began to plan to link the acquired properties together and expand the official residence eastward. So walpole called Mr Chicken, a resident near No.1 Downing Street, to discuss and encourage him to move to other houses in Downing Street. As a result, walpole merged Mr. Qi Qin's tiny former residence, stable and "the house behind the palace" into No.1 Downing Street.
walpole entrusted William Kent, a famous architect, to take charge of the merger project. Kent built a two-storey connection between "The House Behind the Palace" and No.1 Downing Street, and there is a corridor in it, which connects the two buildings together and is called the "Ministry of Finance Corridor". The underground of the connector is a long room, and the first floor is divided into several rooms. After merging the houses, Kent removed all the original walls, floors, stairs and stoves and completely replaced them with new styles. Among them, the newly-built three-storey stone staircase is Kent's masterpiece. The stone staircase was rebuilt in the main body of the original No.1 Downing Street, with iron railings and mahogany handrails. The stone staircase is near the entrance of No.1 Downing Street, which is obvious. Today, walking up the stairs, there are portraits of prime ministers from Sir robert walpole to Ma Zhuoan.
As for the original "house behind the palace", Kent divided it into a three-storey living part, and added a Palladio-style triangular roof in the middle of the building. In order to make it easier for walpole to reach Parliament, Kent removed the original entrance to St James' Park and changed the entrance to Downing Street into the main entrance of the mansion. The reconstruction of No.1 Downing Street lasted for two years. Finally, on September 23, 1735, The London Journal reported that walpole moved into No.1 Downing Street: "Yesterday, Sir robert walpole, his wife and his family moved from their mansion in St. James' Square to a new residence in St. James' Park, which is connected with the Treasury."
The newly-built No.1 Downing Street has about 6 rooms, all of which are made of marble. There are seven main rooms in the basement, and all the rooms on the first floor have a view of the backyard or St. James' Park. The largest underground room is designated as walpole's study, which is 4 feet long and has many huge windows. This is called "Master's Study" by Kent, which is very famous and often becomes the theme of many famous paintings and photos. Walpole's study has now been converted into a cabinet meeting room, where the Prime Minister will discuss government policies and the international situation with subordinate cabinet members. Walpole's portrait is hung on the furnace behind the Prime Minister's seat, which is the only portrait in the cabinet meeting room.
After walpole moved into his new house, he carried out other renovation projects. He converted a piece of land outside his study into a backyard. The document issued by the Finance Committee in April 1736 stated: "... a garden adjacent to a house outside His Majesty's St James' Park has now been transferred to His Majesty's Chancellor of the Exchequer. The cost of building the garden has been paid by the royal family. ". The document also lists that No.1 Downing Street and the newly-built garden are "attached to the office of His Majesty's Ministry of Finance, and are now the residence of the First Commissioner of His Majesty's Ministry of Finance." This is the first official statement that No.1 Downing Street has become the official residence of the First Commissioner. It should be noted that although No.1 Downing Street is generally regarded as the official residence of the Prime Minister, the fact is that the Prime Minister still stays at No.1 Downing Street in the name of the First Finance Minister, so No.1 Downing Street is not really the official residence of the Prime Minister.
Turbulence and Innovation (1742-186)
walpole left No.1 Downing Street in 1742, but for the next 2 years, there was no first finance minister. Walpole's successors, Earl Wilmington, henry pelham and Duke Newcastle all chose to move elsewhere. It was not until 1763 that Prime Minister george grenville moved back to No.1 Downing Street, but after two years, he was dismissed by George III.
In 177, another prime minister, Lord North, moved into No.1 Downing Street in the name of First Chancellor of the Exchequer. North loves No.1 Downing Street very much, and often entertains many famous people in the house, such as writer samuel johnson and so on. Robert Clive is also a frequent visitor there, and today's No.1 Downing Street still retains some furniture specially made for him. On the night of June 7, 178, the "Gordon Riots" broke out in the streets of London, because Protestants were very dissatisfied with North's relaxed policy toward Catholicism. Demonstrators set fires everywhere, and some even went to Downing Street. At that time, Lord North was having dinner with friends, but he went out of the house and warned the demonstrators that they were in danger of being killed. Finally, he successfully dissuaded the demonstrators. As for North's guests, they went to the top floor of the official residence to take refuge. Lord North carried out many improvement works on No.1 Downing Street, which started in 1766 and lasted for nearly eight years. During this period, No.1 Downing Street was replaced by a black main entrance, and a familiar chandelier was added in front of the door, and a famous lion's head knocking ring was added on the door. In the late period of Lord North's tenure as Prime Minister, he asked Sir robert taylor, an architect, to repair No.1 Downing Street and add a vaulted kitchen next to the Treasury Green.
Peter Jr., the youngest prime minister in British history, lived at No.1 Downing Street from 1783 to 181, and from 184 to 186, respectively, for 2 years, which can be described as the longest-lived Downing Street guest. During his stay, No.1 Downing Street became a political center, and many important decisions, such as parliamentary reform, free trade and plans to increase national fiscal reserves, were made there. In addition, No.1 Downing Street is also a social venue.