Wolsey to Walpole: York Place to Downing Street

Entrance door of 10 Downing Street in London on June 16, 2013. Credit: pcruciatti - stock.adobe.com

Number 10

How did a large London town house become the home of the Prime Minister?

It’s a good question. Most countries have a lavish mansion for their head of government. The USA has the White House, France has the Elysee Palace, Italy has the Chigi Palace, and Spain the Moncloa Palace. But for British Prime Ministers, a small flat at the top of a town house is the height of their day-to-day luxury. The story of how Downing Street came to be one of the most famous addresses in the world dates back almost a millennia…

Pre-History

Much about Number 10 Downing Street may be haphazard, but its location is not. It is situated at the very heart of where power has lain in the English state for 1,000 years.

During the early 1000s, King Cnut decided to move the capital of England from Winchester to Westminster. A royal palace was established near to where Parliament is today. After the Norman Conquest of 1066, William the Conquerer chose to be crowned at Westminster Abbey, most likely to reinforce his to legitimacy. His successor, William II, constructed the Great Hall at Westminster which can still be seen today. Over time, Westminster became the meeting place of the first Parliaments, which met in the Great Hall from the 1260s.

Various bishops also established houses in the area. Amongst them was the Archbishop of York, who acquired property near the river, which became known as ‘York Place’. The Archbishopric of York was a powerful position and several served as Chancellors – the last being Cardinal Wolsey, who developed York Place, constructing a large hall covered with white ashlar stone, which might be the origins of the modern name – Whitehall.

During the late 1520s, Wolsey failed to secure a papal annulment of Henry VIII’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon, to allow him to marry Anne Boleyn. In 1529, Henry stripped Wolsey of his titles, and he was indicted for obeying a foreign authority. Wolsey pled guilty, and Henry seized all his palaces, including York Place. Wolsey died of illness soon afterwards.

York Place became the royal palace of Whitehall. In 1535, an Act of Parliament restricted the use of Westminster to the ceremonial. Shakespeare wrote about the change of management:

‘You must no more call it York Place: that is past
For since the Cardinal fell that title’s lost.
‘Tis now the King’s and called Whitehall’.
(Henry VIII, Act Four, Scene I)

Whitehall Palace

Whitehall Palace was the home of the monarchy for over 150 years.

It grew to more than 1,400 rooms, and the area of the palace rivalled that of Louis XIV’s magnificent palace at Versailles. But that was the only way that Whitehall was similar, because Whitehall Palace was no architectural masterpiece. In fact, it was a hodgepodge, with new parts constructed every time the royal family had enough money. It had no architectural consistency and little internal logic.

Henry VIII constructed a series of buildings close to where Downing Street is today called ‘the Cockpit’. It included tennis courts, lodgings, a cock fighting venue (hence the name), and a building to support the ‘tilt yard’ or jousting area where Horse Guards is now located. He made many improvements to the palace. Meanwhile, hundreds of crown servants, administrators, counters, and courtiers moved into the Palace, using whatever space was available to conduct royal government.

A century later, the Stuarts would plan their own improvements to the great rambling palace. During this era part of the cockpit area became a royal theatre. Sir Christopher Wren was asked to design a great Renaissance masterpiece, which would have demolished much of the Palace and replaced it with a new more orderly one, and plans were drawn up. However, these plans never transpired due to a lack of money. In 1691 and 1698, fires broke out at the palace, leaving much of it in ruins. It was rumoured that a looter found a gold bust of Cardinal Wolsey amongst the embers, so perhaps the Cardinal did have the last laugh after all.

In the aftermath of the fires, the royal court decamped to St James’s Palace and never returned to Whitehall. William III had not been fond of Whitehall Palace – filled, as it was, with reminders of bygone Tudors and Stuarts. The smelly, decaying, and elderly buildings aggravated his asthma, and he preferred the cleaner air at Kensington Palace, which was then much more rural. Though he promised to rebuild the palace, his wars drained the Treasury and there was never the money to do so.

Over the centuries that followed, the remaining parts of the Palace were demolished, and private houses were constructed in much of the area. Although, as late as 1804, there were still old walls and small buildings that had been part of the Palace still standing. The great ‘Holbein Gate’ stood near to where to the entrance of Downing Street is today, but was demolished in 1759 to allow for greater access to traffic.

Today some parts of Whitehall Palace still exist. The most prominent part is the Banqueting House, which can be visited today, and is cared for by Historic Royal Palaces. There are also some cellars under the Ministry of Defence, a wall in the courtyard next to Number 10, and the Queen Mary steps near Whitehall Gardens. Also, deep within the Cabinet Office, far from public eye, there are some remnants of Tudor corridors and of Henry VIII’s tennis court.

LONDON, UK - OCTOBER 4, 2016: Whitehall, Royal Horse Guard Palace — LONDON, UK – OCTOBER 4, 2016: Whitehall, Royal Horse Guard Palace — Photo by irstone/Depositphotos.com

Today, the presence of the Horse Guards building besides Whitehall is a remnant of Whitehall Palace. Originally, they were headquartered here because of the Palace. When the Palace burned during the 1690s, the royal court left, but the Horse Guards remained. The current building dates from the 18th Century.

The Cockpit

When Whitehall Palace burned, many of the royal administrators, including the Treasury, moved their operations to the Cockpit area. This had effectively been a part of Whitehall Palace, and, across the road from the rest, had survived the fire. Several parts were rebuilt over the 1670s-90s.

It was just beyond this area in 1682 that George Downing decided to build some houses on a lease of land he had been gifted for his loyalty to the Stuart dynasty.

Downing was born in Dublin, Ireland (then a client state of Great Britain). His father was a barrister and Puritan who had undertaken missionary work in New England. Young George was educated in Kent before travelling to the American colonies during his teens, where he was educated at Harvard College. He returned to England during the mid-1640s, during the closing stages of the Civil War (1642-46).

Though he had initially chosen a career as a preacher, he became a soldier under Oliver Cromwell during the late 1640s and fought in the Anglo-Scottish War (1650-52). He saw action at the battles of Dunbar in 1650 and Worcester in 1651, and was a keen supporter of the Parliamentary cause. He was elected MP for in 1654 and sat in the Protectorate’s Parliament. In 1657, he became ambassador to The Hague in the Dutch Republic.

During these years, he was also ‘scoutmaster-general’, running intelligence and spying operations in Europe. Like many at the time, he realised after Cromwell’s death that a Restoration of the monarchy was likely, and established contact to Charles II’s exiled court.

He later proved his loyalty to the Stuarts, when he organised the abduction of three ‘regicides’ (John Okey, John Barkestead, and Miles Corbet). Downing had reassured Okey, an old friend, in a letter that he would be safe in Holland. Once they arrived, Downing had them arrested and smuggled back to England, where they went to the gallows.

Downing became responsible for strengthening the public finances under the Restoration government, establishing a system where departments produced estimates for spending.

He inspired the Navigation Act which strengthened Britain’s commercial and naval power, and also negotiated the acquisition of the island of Manhattan (now New York City) from the Dutch. As a result, modern New York has its own ‘Downing Street’ near Washington Square. His fortune of some £80,000, left on his death in 1681, eventually funded Downing College, Cambridge.

For his role in facilitating the Restoration, and his many services to the Stuart government, he was rewarded with a piece of land near St James’s Park, where Downing Street would be constructed.

Downing died in 1684 and is buried in a vault he had built in All Saints’ Church, Croydon, Cambridgeshire

Downing’s portrait is now in the Downing Street entrance room and is seen by visitors as they leave the building. Rogue or otherwise, Downing’s painting reminds guests that while their presence is ephemeral, his name endures.

Some sources say that Downing constructed 15 buildings on this land. In fact, he constructed four or five buildings in the area of the modern Numbers 10, 11, and 12 Downing Street, and around the end of the street, creating a Cul de Sac (the houses at the end of the street were eventually numbered 13 and 14). They did not have numbers at this point in time (a map from the 1740s shows the houses numbered 1-5 but it is not clear whether this is merely for the purposes of the map). Another map from 1799 shows the modern numbering.

The buildings were crudely and quickly erected on ground that was not immune to flooding. In those days, the Thames was much broader and higher than it is today (Victorian embankments and dredging having channelled the river). The poor state of maintenance would be a long running theme in Downing Street’s history.

Additionally, there was also a house overlooking St James’s Park, which was used as lodgings for royal appointees. Over the years, many famous people lived here, including: Thomas Knevett, who captured Guy Fawkes; Princess Elizabeth, daughter of James I; George Monck, the general who was most responsible for the Restoration of 1660; and Lord Overkirk, a Dutch general who had assisted in the Glorious Revolution.

This building was likely first built during the 16^th Century but was rebuilt during the second half of the 17^th, with further changes being made during the 1720s. During the 1730s, it was occupied by Count Bothmer, the Premiere Minister of George II’s electorate of Hanover. The idea of combining this ‘house at the back’ with the properties on Downing Street might well have originated with Bothmer.

A description of Downing Street, 1698:
‘a pretty open place, especially at the upper end, where are four or five very large and well built houses, fit for persons of honour and quality; each house having a pleasant prospect into St James’ Park, with a Terras walk’.

The Walpoles move in

The Downing Street buildings themselves were (and still are) owned by the Crown. They were distributed as grace-and-favour properties by the monarchy.

The rate book for 1732 shows that the two large houses in Downing Street were occupied by a ‘Mr Scroop’ (perhaps Treasury official John Scrope) and a Mr Chicken. It was in 1732 that King George II offered the house to Robert Walpole. A book from 1752 (about Walpole’s art collection) states that:

‘That House belonged to the Crown; King George the First gave it to Baron Bothmar [sic], the Hanoverian Minister, for Life. On his Death, the present King offer’d it to Sir Robert Walpole, but he would only accept it for his Office of First Lord of the Treasury, to which Post he got it annexed forever.’

Horace Walpole also wrote to Horace Mann in June 1742:

I am writing to you in one of the charming rooms towards the park: it is a delightful evening, and I am willing to enjoy this sweet corner while I may, for we are soon to quit it. Mrs Sandys came yesterday to give us warning; Lord Wilmington has lent it to them: Sir Robert might have had it for his own at first, but would only take it as first lord of the Treasury.

Walpole moved into Downing Street in 1735. The London Daily Post stated that “Yesterday the Right Hon. Sir Robert Walpole, with his Lady and Family, removed from their House in St James’s Square, to his new House, adjoining to the Treasury in St James’s Park”.

Walpole lived in the house from 1735 until his resignation in early 1742. During Walpole’s time, the Downing Street property was joined to the ‘house at the back’, to create the large property that we know today. A part of the property was converted into a terrace and garden, which still exist. The architect William Kent also oversaw the construction of the large staircase where pictures of all the Prime Ministers are located today. Kent’s overall repairs to Downing Street eventually cost £20,000, as against a budget of £8,000. Though he did not know it, cost overruns were to become a theme of Downing Street’s history.

Walpole at 10

Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford, 1740. — **Image credit:** Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford, studio of Jean Baptiste van Loo, 1740. Photo © National Portrait Gallery, London licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0

It is thought that Walpole used the Cabinet Room as his levee room, where he worked and met visitors. He probably used the rooms adjoining his study as a dressing room and parlour. Walpole also put his art collection on the walls of the Downing Street property, and the upper floor walls were covered in Brocade, as were the walls at his house at Houghton in Norfolk.

Walpole’s wife, Catherine, lived in the upstairs of the property. Her drawing room was what is now the White Drawing Room and her bedroom was in the east corner of the house overlooking St James’ Park. However, it seems that Catherine preferred their home in Chelsea and spent more time there.

Walpole would host Queen Caroline frequently in Downing Street, and relations with the royals were close. According to the Daily Post, Caroline breakfasted with the Walpole family within a week of their moving into Downing Street in October 1735.

When her Majesty breakfasted with Sir Robert Walpole on Wednesday last, at his house in St James’s Park, the Right Hon. The Lord Walpole, Edward Walpole, Esq., and Horatio Walpole, Esq., Sir Robert’s three Sons, waited at Table on her Majesty and the Royal Family. The Earl of Grantham, by her Majesty’s Orders, left a handsome sum to be distributed among the servants.

After Walpole moved out, there would be two decades before another Prime Minister lived in Downing Street.

References

National Archives Files:

PRO Work 59/13
PRO T199/365

Aedes Walpolianæce Or a Description of the Collection of Pictures at Houghton-Hall in Norfolk, (London, 1752), accessible at < https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/%C3%86des_Walpolian%C3%A6/-P0lYluwJU4C?hl>, accessed 6 October 2023.

‘10 Downing Street: Crown Lands and Estates’, Questions for the Cabinet Office, House of Lords, UIN HL4966, tabled on 14 December 2021, <https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2021-12-14/HL4966/>, accessed 6 October 2023.

“No. 10, Downing Street,” in Survey of London: Volume 14, St Margaret, Westminster, Part III: Whitehall II, ed. Montagu H Cox and G Topham Forrest (London: London County Council, 1931), 113-141. British History Online, accessed October 6, 2023, <http://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/vol14/pt3/pp113-141>, accessed October 6, 2023.

Colin Brown, Whitehall: The Street that Shaped a Nation (London, 2009).

Susan Foreman, From Palace to Power: Illustrated History of Whitehall: An Illustrated History of Whitehall (Liverpool, 1995).

Christopher Jones, Number Ten Downing Street: The Story of a House (London, 1985).

Anthony Seldon, 10 Downing Street: The Illustrated History, (London, 1999).

Robert Shepherd, Westminster: A Biography (London, 2012).

Henry B. Wheatley, London Past and Present: Its History, Associations and Traditions (London, 1891).

Wolsey to Walpole: York Place to Downing Street

Number 10

How did a large London town house become the home of the Prime Minister?

Pre-History

Whitehall Palace

The Cockpit

Further reading

Sir George Downing, 1st Baronet, 1623-84

The Walpoles move in

Walpole at 10

References

Stay updated...

Wolsey to Walpole: York Place to Downing Street

Number 10

How did a large London town house become the home of the Prime Minister?

Pre-History

Whitehall Palace

The Cockpit

Further reading

Sir George Downing, 1st Baronet, 1623-84

The Walpoles move in

Walpole at 10

References

Related Content

Downing Street Tour

Chequers

The fall of Robert Walpole

A short history of Downing Street, 1750-2023

The Pre-Prime Ministers: The Chief Ministers

Sir Robert Walpole

Chancellors, whips, and Wellington: Numbers 11, 12 and…. 14 Downing Street?

Prime Ministerial Residences in History

Stay updated...

Sign up to our newsletter here