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Welcome to the London History 
Podcast. 

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I am Hazel Baker, CEO of London 
guidedwalks.co.uk, and today 

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we're strolling down one of the 
most recognisable streets, 

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Downing St. 
There's far more to it than the 

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famous Black Door and the Prime 
Ministers who have stepped 

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through it. 
We'll be uncovering the streets 

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full length and history is Grant
Houses, colourful residents and 

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the unexpected twists that have 
shaped this small but storied 

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corner of Westminster. 
This is a street where 

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aristocratic balls and 
government memos once collided, 

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where shoddy building work sat 
cheek by jowl with courtly 

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ambition, and where you could 
find a Venetian radical living 2

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doors down from a civil servant 
spinster sister. 

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We'll explore not only its 
architecture, thin walls, fake 

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mortar lines and all, but also 
the extraordinary range of 

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people who have called it home. 
Forget the political headlines 

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for a moment. 
Downing St. has always been a 

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place of layered lives and 
surprising stories. 

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The story of Downing St. begins,
fittingly, with its namesake, a 

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man who could survive any 
political storm and came out 

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richer on the other side. 
Sir George Downing was born in 

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Dublin, 1623, but his childhood 
was spent across the Atlantic in

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the Puritan colony of 
Massachusetts. 

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He was among the first handful 
of graduates from the fledgling 

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Harvard College, destined, or so
it seemed, for a life in the 

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ministry. 
But history had other plans. 

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Upon returning to England, 
Downing traded the pulpit for 

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the sword. 
In the chaos of the Civil War, 

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he rose to become Oliver 
Cromwell's chief intelligence 

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officer, effectively England's 
spymaster. 

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It was dangerous, shadowy work, 
intercepting messages, turning 

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agents and mapping the political
loyalties of an unstable nation.

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And then came the twist. 
With the protractorate finished 

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and the monarchy restored, 
George Downing made a 

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calculation. 
He switched sides, pledged 

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himself to Charles the 2nd and, 
most damningly in the eyes of 

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his former comrades, betrayed 
regicides who had once been his 

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allies. 
Opportunistic, certainly. 

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Effective, Without a doubt. 
His reward was a knighthood, 

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lucrative government posts and 
the means to amass significant 

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land holdings. 
By 1682, Downing had purchased a

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prime stretch on the West fringe
of Whitehall Palace, land ripe 

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for development. 
It was still, at that time, 

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little more than a Marshall 
market garden, but Downing saw 

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its potential. 
On this soggy ground, he would 

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stamp his name in London's 
geography. 

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Before the name Downing meant 
anything in Westminster, the 

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plot had centuries of history 
baked into it. 

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In mediaeval times, the site was
home to the Axe Brewery, owned 

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by the Abbey of Abington, 
supplying ale to the area around

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the Royal palace. 
By the 1500s, Elizabeth the 

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First had granted the land to 
one of her most trusted 

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courtiers, Sir Thomas Nivet. 
He was a man whose place in 

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history is sealed for a single 
night's work. 

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On the 5th of November 1605. 
It was Nibbett who seized Guy 

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Fawkes beneath the Palace of 
Westminster and unearthed the 

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Gunpowder Plot before it could 
devastate King and Parliament. 

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Nibbett built himself a 
substantial house here, later 

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known as Hampton House. 
His descendants lived with the 

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Royal palace almost in their 
front yard. 

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Imagine the view from their 
windows in January 1649 across 

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to Whitehall Palace, where a 
scaffold had been erected for 

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the execution of Charles the 
First, one of the most traumatic

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moments in English history, 
playing out like theatre in the 

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open air for anyone who cared to
watch. 

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Long before George Downing began
sketching terraces, this patch 

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of ground had already witnessed 
monks brewing royal patriotage 

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and revolution. 
When Downing finally set his 

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redeveloping motion, his aim was
simple. 

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Create homes for persons of 
quality, but without paying for 

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actual quality. 
He said to have engaged the 

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great Sir Christopher Wren, 
though historians debate how 

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much Wren really was involved 
with the plans. 

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But what is certain is that 
Downing overruled the Craftsman.

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Whenever costs could be spared. 
The houses went up with shallow 

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foundations, walls so thin that 
some were actually hollow, and 

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facades where neat mortar joints
were simply pasted on. 

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From a distance they looked like
all the other new Georgian 

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residences springing up in 
London. 

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But close up, the illusions 
started to crack. 

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Samuel Peeps, the famous 
diarist, had pegged Downing 

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years earlier as a perfidious 
rogue, and more than two 

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centuries later Winston 
Churchill would sigh that Number

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10 was shaky and lightly built 
by the profiteering contractor 

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whose name it bears and #10 
itself. 

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It isn't just a single house at 
all. 

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It's it's hybrid Downing's 
modest terrace house at the 

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front, stitched to a much 
larger, older mansion at the 

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rear, creating a maze of rooms 
and corridors. 

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Newcomers to the building will 
get lost in its eccentric 

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layout, the product of 
expediency over elegance. 

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In its early decades, Downing 
St. was a surprisingly eclectic 

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address, though as George 
Villiers, Second Duke of 

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Buckingham, a courtier, poet, 
jewellist and schemer, 

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immortalised by Alexander Pope 
as the man who will be 

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everything, Buckingham wasn't 
just a visitor here. 

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He set up a residence in the 
grand mansion that would 

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eventually become part of #10. 
Fresh from a life packed with 

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jewels, courtly intrigue and 
political scheming, Buckingham 

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made Downing St. one of the 
liveliest addresses in 

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Restoration London. 
His home served as both a salon 

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for wit and the headquarters for
intrigue. 

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It was here that Buckingham, a 
fixture of Charles the Second's 

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notorious Cabal ministry, 
entertained the great and the 

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good poets, actors, ministers 
amid lavish dinners and late 

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night debates. 
Known for his Quicksilver 

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intelligence and prodigal 
lifestyle, Buckingham's name at 

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Downing St. reflected the 
street's own character. 

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Ambitious, glamorous and always 
just a little bit unstable, 

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accounts from the era describe 
political meetings held in 

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candlelit dining rooms and 
scandals that drifted out into 

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the neighboring houses. 
The proximity to Whitehall 

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Palace, Downing St. the perfect 
base for advancing royal 

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policies and sometimes plotting 
against them. 

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Buckingham's household was 
notorious for its extravagance, 

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and more than once he found 
himself embroiled in both public

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feuds and clandestine court 
business. 

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His time in Downing St. was a 
high point, an era when the 

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street itself was on the cusp of
becoming the symbolic centre of 

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British power. 
For Buckingham, it became a 

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stage for both his ambitions and
excesses, a place where 

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Restoration London's theatres of
politics, pleasure and drama 

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played out on a daily basis. 
To his peers, Villiers was 

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dazzling and dangerous in equal 
measure. 

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Alexander Pipe immortalised him 
with the line The Man Who Would 

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Be Everything, a nod to his 
relentless pursuit of status, 

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pleasure and power. 
He also penned a famous verse on

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his death in the worst Inns 
worst room with mat half hung, 

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the tables dingy and the carpet 
torn. 

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Great Villiers lies. 
Alas, how changed for him that 

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pleasure of life and that soul 
of whim. 

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Downing St. during the time of 
George Villiers saw a 

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speculative development in the 
hub of intrigue and power, 

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setting a tone that would linger
for generations. 

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His legacy is built not just on 
the scandals and the wit for 

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which he became famous, but on 
shaping the very spirit of the 

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street itself, a place where 
drama was never far behind the 

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front door. 
The Countess of Litchfield was 

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also a resident of Downing St. 
Born Lady Charlotte Fitzroy, she

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brought her touch of royal 
glamour to Downing St. in its 

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earliest days. 
As the acknowledged illegitimate

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daughter of Charles the Second, 
she occupied the very mansion 

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what would soon be woven into 
the fabric of #10. 

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Known for her warmth, wit and 
social influence, the Countess 

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transformed her home on Downing 
St. into one of Restoration 

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London's most fashionable 
salons. 

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Inside those elegant rooms, the 
candles burned late into the 

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night, illuminating glittering 
receptions where aristocrats, 

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diplomats, playwrights and 
politicians mingled under her 

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generous hospitality. 
Hers was a household at the 

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heart of the city's social and 
political life, where stories 

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and alliances were born along 
laughter and gossip. 

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The Countess's receptions 
weren't just opulent, they were 

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strategic. 
Her father's ties and her own 

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place in court ensured that 
Downing St. was alive with 

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whispers of statecraft and royal
favour. 

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Those who attended her 
gatherings may well have found 

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themselves discussing the 
shifting tides of England's 

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monarchy, all the intrigue 
brewing a few steps away in 

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Whitehall Palace. 
Over time, her stately mansion 

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became an integral part of the 
evolving #10 its walls and 

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floors silently absorbing the 
legacy of power and sociability.

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The blend of personal and law 
and political gravitas that she 

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brought to Downing St. helps set
a tone for the address. 

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A place not only where politics 
happens, but where people forged

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connections, shaped culture and 
enjoyed the pleasures of London 

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life. 
Hans Kasper von Bertma's tenure 

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at Downing Street is one of the 
street's most intriguing 

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chapters. 
Equal parts high diplomacy, 

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personal drama and architectural
complaint. 

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Bertma, the Hanoverian envoy to 
Britain, moved into what 

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eventually was known as now 
iconic #10 in the early 18th 

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century. 
He was more than just a foreign 

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diplomat. 
As chief advisor to the House of

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her Norfa, Bullsma played a 
pivotal role in arranging and 

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securing the accession of George
the First to the British throne,

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a saga that would change the 
course of history. 

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From his Downing St. residence, 
Bullsma turned his home into a 

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centre of international 
intrigue. 

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From his Downing Street address,
Bull turned his home into a 

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centre of international intrigue
and sophisticated hospitality. 

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He maintained stables for his 
prized horses, a status symbol 

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and practical necessity for a 
man constantly navigating 

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London's political and social 
circuit. 

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Inside, his salons echoed with 
the voices of European nobles, 

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English ministers, and ambitious
core personalities, all in orbit

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around one of the period's most 
influential political operators.

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Yet for all the power and 
opulence, Birdsmart was never 

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shy about airing his grievances,
and most notably about the 

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ruinous condition of his Downing
Street house. 

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In letters and official notes, 
he complained about leaky roofs,

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crumbling plaster, and the damp 
that plagued so many of 

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Downing's quickly built 
terraces. 

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It's no surprise that these 
homes were infamous for their 

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shallow foundations and rushed 
craftsmanship. 

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Butman's frustration was so 
great that his successors 

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continued to grumble about 
repairs long after he left. 

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Butman's time at Downing St. was
a fascinating mix of power and 

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inconvenience. 
He wielded more influence from 

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this address than most who 
followed, but the daily 

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realities of living in a poorly 
built London terrace were ever 

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present through grand 
entertainments and diplomatic 

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scheming. 
And in spite of the drafty 

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halls, Birdsma left his mark not
only on the House but on the 

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trajectory of British royalty 
itself. 

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Among Downing St's more 
surprising residents was Tobias 

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Smollett, a man whose legacy 
straddles both medicine and 

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literature. 
In the 1740s, Smollett, a young 

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Scottish doctor with ambitions 
in London, opened a medical 

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practice right on Downing St. 
Though he hoped to build a 

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reputable character, his days as
a physician were, by most 

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accounts, not wildly successful.
Competition was fierce and the 

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patients often less glamorous 
than Downing St's address might 

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suggest. 
Yet Smollett's time, the down at

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heel doctor on one of London's 
most prestigious streets, did 

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serve him well in another way. 
As raw material. 

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Observing the quirks, 
pretensions and private dramas 

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of neighbors and patients, 
Smollett honed his eye for human

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folly, a gift that made his 
later novels both hilarious and 

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biting. 
Works like Roderick Random and 

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Humphrey Clinker were full of 
sharply drawn Londoners with 

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their vanities and schemes, and 
it's not hard to imagine that 

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this bustling, socially diverse 
community on Downing St. offered

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a wealth of inspiration. 
His characters often lampooned 

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the medical profession, the 
status seekers and the 

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bureaucrats, groups he 
encountered daily in his failed 

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practice. 
In this way, the intrigue and 

228
00:15:14,520 --> 00:15:18,640
everyday life of Downing St. 
seeped directly into the pages 

229
00:15:18,640 --> 00:15:22,320
of his satire, making Smollett 
not just a cracker of Georgian 

230
00:15:22,320 --> 00:15:26,160
society but also one of its 
keenest critics. 

231
00:15:26,760 --> 00:15:32,480
In the winter of 1762, a young 
Scotsman by the name of James 

232
00:15:32,480 --> 00:15:35,320
Boswell took rooms on Downing 
St. 

233
00:15:35,880 --> 00:15:40,000
He was just 22, newly arrived in
London, and is still years away 

234
00:15:40,000 --> 00:15:43,000
from securing his place in 
literary history as the 

235
00:15:43,000 --> 00:15:46,880
brilliant, if sometimes bubbling
biographer of Doctor Samuel 

236
00:15:46,880 --> 00:15:51,080
Johnson. 
At that moment he was a law 

237
00:15:51,080 --> 00:15:55,120
student, an ambitious writer in 
the making and, by his own 

238
00:15:55,120 --> 00:15:58,360
candid admission, a man with a 
taste for both serious 

239
00:15:58,360 --> 00:16:01,160
conversation and lively 
diversion. 

240
00:16:03,200 --> 00:16:07,120
Boswell lodged with Thomas 
Terry, a chamber keeper at the 

241
00:16:07,120 --> 00:16:10,800
Office of Trade and Plantations,
paying for a small but 

242
00:16:10,800 --> 00:16:13,640
respectable set of rooms right 
on Downing St. 

243
00:16:14,400 --> 00:16:18,920
In his journal he described the 
street approvingly as genteel, a

244
00:16:18,920 --> 00:16:22,120
word that in George and London 
meant not just tidy and well 

245
00:16:22,120 --> 00:16:26,760
kept, but socially respectable, 
with the right sort of neighbors

246
00:16:26,760 --> 00:16:30,440
to impress a young man anxious 
to make his mark. 

247
00:16:31,800 --> 00:16:35,120
The location could not have been
any more convenient for him. 

248
00:16:35,400 --> 00:16:39,040
By day he could stroll to the 
coffee houses and legal chambers

249
00:16:39,040 --> 00:16:42,280
off the Strand, or to the Houses
of Parliament to observe 

250
00:16:42,280 --> 00:16:46,160
politics in action. 
A short walk took him to Saint 

251
00:16:46,160 --> 00:16:50,320
James's Park, the clubs of Pall 
Mall or the playhouses of Drury 

252
00:16:50,320 --> 00:16:55,640
Lane, and by night, well, 
Bosworth was never shy about 

253
00:16:55,640 --> 00:16:58,600
admitting that the pleasures of 
London after dark were as 

254
00:16:58,600 --> 00:17:01,480
important to him as his 
libraries and lecture pools. 

255
00:17:01,560 --> 00:17:05,200
From his Downing St. lodgings he
could discreetly slip into a 

256
00:17:05,200 --> 00:17:09,079
world of Taverns, theatre 
audiences, private salons and 

257
00:17:09,560 --> 00:17:13,200
respectable gatherings without 
straying too far from home. 

258
00:17:15,040 --> 00:17:19,240
His journals from this period, 
famously frank, sometimes 

259
00:17:19,240 --> 00:17:22,960
shockingly so, reveal the double
life he led here. 

260
00:17:23,440 --> 00:17:26,400
Mornings might find him drafting
letters and recording his 

261
00:17:26,400 --> 00:17:28,720
impressions of eminent men he 
hoped to meet. 

262
00:17:29,000 --> 00:17:32,360
Evenings could see him in the 
company of actors, courtesans or

263
00:17:32,360 --> 00:17:35,440
fellow Scots chasing fortune in 
the capital. 

264
00:17:36,080 --> 00:17:39,840
Downing St., with its blend of 
dignity and centrality, was the 

265
00:17:39,840 --> 00:17:42,920
perfect launchpad for this 
balancing act. 

266
00:17:44,600 --> 00:17:48,040
It's easy to picture him out the
window on a crisp evening, 

267
00:17:48,400 --> 00:17:52,120
listening to the clip of the 
hooves and the cobbles, watching

268
00:17:52,120 --> 00:17:55,640
ministers and messengers come 
and go, and feeling himself 

269
00:17:55,640 --> 00:18:01,240
close, tantalisingly close to 
the centre of power and culture 

270
00:18:01,480 --> 00:18:05,640
he so admired. 
For Boswell, three months on 

271
00:18:05,640 --> 00:18:08,480
Downing St. was more than a 
lodging arrangement. 

272
00:18:08,720 --> 00:18:13,240
It was a formative chapter in 
the making of a man who would go

273
00:18:13,240 --> 00:18:18,120
on to capture, like no one else,
the people and the pulse of his 

274
00:18:18,120 --> 00:18:20,680
age. 
For all its aristocratic 

275
00:18:20,680 --> 00:18:25,000
associations, Downing St. was 
never exclusively a noble 

276
00:18:25,000 --> 00:18:27,680
enclave. 
The surviving rental and 

277
00:18:27,680 --> 00:18:31,560
insurance records tell a more 
complicated social mix. 

278
00:18:32,400 --> 00:18:36,120
There was Count Zenobio, A 
politically troublesome Venetian

279
00:18:36,120 --> 00:18:40,560
whose residency in the 1790s 
ended with being encouraged to 

280
00:18:40,560 --> 00:18:44,400
leave the country. 
There was Mary Sparrow, a 

281
00:18:44,400 --> 00:18:48,120
widowed landlady who owned and 
let several properties, 

282
00:18:48,120 --> 00:18:52,440
including numbers 22 and 25, to 
clerks, unmarried women and 

283
00:18:52,440 --> 00:18:56,680
junior officials. 
And behind the political facades

284
00:18:56,680 --> 00:19:01,040
in the grand drawing rooms were 
smaller, humbler spaces, 

285
00:19:01,520 --> 00:19:05,440
servants quarters at the top of 
the house, single rooms in the 

286
00:19:05,440 --> 00:19:09,440
attic, modest parlours for 
middle class tenants whose names

287
00:19:09,440 --> 00:19:14,960
rarely enter the history books. 
It was location rather than pure

288
00:19:14,960 --> 00:19:17,600
social status that drew people 
here. 

289
00:19:18,240 --> 00:19:21,480
A senior civil servant might 
live 2 doors down from a 

290
00:19:21,480 --> 00:19:24,600
noblewoman. 
A clerk may share the same 

291
00:19:24,600 --> 00:19:27,280
cobbled St. as a celebrated 
diplomat. 

292
00:19:28,120 --> 00:19:32,200
In that sense, Downing St. was, 
even before it became a 

293
00:19:32,200 --> 00:19:36,160
government fortress, a place 
where the strata of London life 

294
00:19:36,480 --> 00:19:41,120
were pressed closely together. 
By the early 18th century, 

295
00:19:41,280 --> 00:19:44,880
Downing St. was a mixed 
neighborhood, Dukes rubbing 

296
00:19:44,880 --> 00:19:48,080
shoulders with diplomats, 
writers sharing walls with civil

297
00:19:48,080 --> 00:19:52,680
servants. 
But in 1735, its destiny took a 

298
00:19:52,680 --> 00:19:55,960
decisive turn. 
This was the year Britain's 

299
00:19:55,960 --> 00:20:00,760
political heart found its 
official home, and it began with

300
00:20:00,760 --> 00:20:04,760
a man who, rather like the 
street itself, had a knack for 

301
00:20:04,760 --> 00:20:07,760
turning circumstance into 
opportunity. 

302
00:20:07,760 --> 00:20:10,960
Sir Robert Walpole is often 
called Britain's first Prime 

303
00:20:10,960 --> 00:20:15,080
Minister, even though the title 
didn't officially exist yet at 

304
00:20:15,080 --> 00:20:17,720
the time. 
His role was First Lord of the 

305
00:20:17,720 --> 00:20:21,360
Treasury, a position with 
enormous influence. 

306
00:20:22,080 --> 00:20:24,960
When King George the Second 
offered him the use of the house

307
00:20:24,960 --> 00:20:29,480
at #10 Downing St. 
Walpole accepted, but with one 

308
00:20:29,480 --> 00:20:33,800
shrewd condition. 
He insisted the property not be 

309
00:20:33,800 --> 00:20:37,360
a personal gift, but the 
official residence of whomever 

310
00:20:37,360 --> 00:20:42,560
held the office after him. 
In other words #10 would now 

311
00:20:42,560 --> 00:20:47,360
belong to the state, not to 
anyone, man or woman. 

312
00:20:47,560 --> 00:20:51,840
And the number 10 we think we 
know today wasn't yet the house 

313
00:20:51,840 --> 00:20:54,400
we would have seen. 
Then the transformation came, 

314
00:20:54,400 --> 00:20:57,840
thanks to architect William 
Kent, a man who could turn 

315
00:20:57,840 --> 00:21:00,640
modest plans into stately 
statements of power. 

316
00:21:01,600 --> 00:21:05,200
Kent didn't just spruce up 
Downing's old terrace house. 

317
00:21:05,440 --> 00:21:09,240
He joined it to the larger, 
older mansion at the rear, the 

318
00:21:09,240 --> 00:21:11,800
former home of the Countess of 
Lichfield. 

319
00:21:13,160 --> 00:21:17,280
Picture this, a modest brick 
fronting on the narrow 

320
00:21:17,280 --> 00:21:21,680
cul-de-sac that, once you 
stepped inside, opened up into a

321
00:21:21,680 --> 00:21:27,520
labyrinth of over 60 rooms. 
Kent linked the two buildings 

322
00:21:27,680 --> 00:21:33,240
with a grand 3 Storey staircase,
curved and sweeping, the kind 

323
00:21:33,240 --> 00:21:36,320
that made you instinctively 
straighten your jacket as you 

324
00:21:36,320 --> 00:21:39,080
ascended. 
There was a State Dining Room, 

325
00:21:39,080 --> 00:21:42,880
glimmering under candlelight, 
where political alliances could 

326
00:21:42,880 --> 00:21:45,480
be forged under venison and 
carrot. 

327
00:21:46,080 --> 00:21:49,040
There were drawing rooms and 
reception chambers where the 

328
00:21:49,040 --> 00:21:51,800
very air seemed thick with 
intrigue. 

329
00:21:52,200 --> 00:21:55,520
And of course, Kent built in 
spacious offices, turning the 

330
00:21:55,520 --> 00:21:59,800
residents into a functioning 
centre of government, a place to

331
00:21:59,800 --> 00:22:03,520
live and to rule. 
This new arrangement set the 

332
00:22:03,520 --> 00:22:08,000
tone for the next 100 years and,
like aristocratic houses in more

333
00:22:08,000 --> 00:22:12,240
fashionable parts of town #10 
became a working residence. 

334
00:22:12,600 --> 00:22:16,600
Somewhere, political business 
happened under the same roof as 

335
00:22:16,600 --> 00:22:21,200
a private life. 
Ministers could snip from supper

336
00:22:21,400 --> 00:22:25,640
into strategy sessions without 
even putting on their coats. 

337
00:22:25,640 --> 00:22:28,800
Over time, the government's 
appetite for space began to 

338
00:22:28,800 --> 00:22:32,640
spread along the street. 
neighboring houses were annexed,

339
00:22:32,760 --> 00:22:36,600
first for additional offices, 
then for ministerial residences 

340
00:22:36,920 --> 00:22:40,800
#11 became home to the 
Chancellor of the exchequer #12 

341
00:22:40,800 --> 00:22:44,920
took on various government uses 
from the Colonial Office to the 

342
00:22:44,920 --> 00:22:47,760
Chief Whips headquarters, 1 by 
1. 

343
00:22:48,040 --> 00:22:51,040
The other houses that had once 
been left to diplomats, 

344
00:22:51,280 --> 00:22:55,080
merchants and writers were 
absorbed by the state. 

345
00:22:56,080 --> 00:23:00,000
By the mid 19th century, Downing
St. as a social neighborhood was

346
00:23:00,000 --> 00:23:03,320
gone. 
Only Numbers 1011 and 12 

347
00:23:03,320 --> 00:23:07,840
survived as residences, and even
those were now more official 

348
00:23:07,840 --> 00:23:10,840
than personal. 
The rest have been swallowed up 

349
00:23:10,840 --> 00:23:14,480
by the machinery of government, 
their drawing rooms turned to 

350
00:23:14,480 --> 00:23:17,920
offices, their bedrooms into 
filing rooms, their gardens 

351
00:23:17,920 --> 00:23:22,600
paved for clerks and messengers.
It was an irrevocable 

352
00:23:22,600 --> 00:23:25,480
transformation. 
What had started as a 

353
00:23:25,480 --> 00:23:29,720
speculative terrace built on 
soggy ground was now the address

354
00:23:29,720 --> 00:23:31,800
synonymous with British 
leadership. 

355
00:23:32,640 --> 00:23:36,680
Downing St. had crossed the 
threshold from mixed-use London 

356
00:23:36,680 --> 00:23:40,680
backstreet to one of the most 
recognisable corridors of power 

357
00:23:40,880 --> 00:23:42,480
in the world. 
And that's where the streets 

358
00:23:42,480 --> 00:23:46,840
stayed. 
Guarded, official, it's old life

359
00:23:46,840 --> 00:23:51,360
erased except in the faint 
outlines on the 18th century 

360
00:23:51,360 --> 00:23:54,440
maps. 
But as ever in London, if you 

361
00:23:54,440 --> 00:23:57,800
scratch beneath the surface 
you'll find those earlier 

362
00:23:57,800 --> 00:24:00,280
stories still hiding in the 
shadows. 

363
00:24:00,600 --> 00:24:03,520
By the time the Victorians left 
their mark in London, Downing 

364
00:24:03,520 --> 00:24:06,040
St. had already begun its 
retreat into the form we 

365
00:24:06,040 --> 00:24:08,720
recognise today. 
The long terrace that once 

366
00:24:08,720 --> 00:24:12,000
stretched further towards 
Whitehall was shortened into a 

367
00:24:12,000 --> 00:24:14,760
tidy cul-de-sac we see on the 
maps. 

368
00:24:15,400 --> 00:24:19,120
Gone was the Axon Gate pub, a 
survivor from the brewery days, 

369
00:24:19,120 --> 00:24:22,800
which at Whitehall corner for 
centuries, serving generations 

370
00:24:22,800 --> 00:24:26,520
of locals, diplomats and clerks.
Gone, too, were the many of the 

371
00:24:26,520 --> 00:24:29,880
original houses built under Sir 
George Downing's speculative 

372
00:24:29,880 --> 00:24:33,760
eye, houses that had sheltered 
Dukes, diplomats, writers and 

373
00:24:33,760 --> 00:24:37,040
radicals in their time. 
The steady appetite of 

374
00:24:37,040 --> 00:24:41,720
government for offices had grown
with the 19th century, and 1 By 

375
00:24:41,720 --> 00:24:45,600
1 the private residences were 
annexed or pulled down, replaced

376
00:24:45,600 --> 00:24:49,080
by the grand new blocks of the 
Foreign Office, the Home Office,

377
00:24:49,240 --> 00:24:54,640
and other departments of state. 
But survival came in part from 

378
00:24:54,640 --> 00:24:58,240
adoption. 
The last three houses #1011 and 

379
00:24:58,240 --> 00:25:03,040
12 remained standing, each with 
a new, overtly political 

380
00:25:03,040 --> 00:25:05,920
purpose. 
Their very survival made them 

381
00:25:05,920 --> 00:25:09,480
familiar fixtures, even as the 
street around them changed 

382
00:25:09,480 --> 00:25:13,800
beyond recognition. 
Then came the 20th century and 

383
00:25:13,800 --> 00:25:18,200
another kind of trial war. 
During the Second World War, 

384
00:25:18,400 --> 00:25:20,840
German bombing raids did not 
spare Whitehall. 

385
00:25:21,360 --> 00:25:25,320
Blast damage cracked masonry, 
shattered windows and tested the

386
00:25:25,400 --> 00:25:28,080
already delicate fabric of 
Downing's cheaply built 

387
00:25:28,080 --> 00:25:31,920
terraces. 
The buildings limped on through 

388
00:25:31,920 --> 00:25:35,840
the war, patched in the blackout
years until post war Britain 

389
00:25:36,080 --> 00:25:38,600
could turn its attention to 
repairing the heart of 

390
00:25:38,600 --> 00:25:42,560
government. 
In the 1950s, under Harold 

391
00:25:42,560 --> 00:25:45,960
Macmillan, the decision was 
taken to rebuild extensively 

392
00:25:45,960 --> 00:25:48,080
behind the preserved Georgian 
facades. 

393
00:25:48,760 --> 00:25:52,760
Inside walls were stripped back,
Timbers replaced and services 

394
00:25:52,760 --> 00:25:56,040
modernised. 
But from the outside the classic

395
00:25:56,040 --> 00:25:58,960
black brick and white trimmed 
elevations remained. 

396
00:25:59,640 --> 00:26:03,480
It was an operation that kept 
appearances and dated realities,

397
00:26:03,680 --> 00:26:07,040
a fitting metaphor for Downing 
St's entire history. 

398
00:26:09,280 --> 00:26:13,840
Today, those 3 survivors have 
distinct roles #10 serves, as it

399
00:26:13,840 --> 00:26:17,720
has since Walpole's day, as an 
official residence and office of

400
00:26:17,720 --> 00:26:21,520
the Prime Minister #11 has 
become home to the Chancellor of

401
00:26:21,520 --> 00:26:25,600
the Exchequer and #12 houses the
Chief Whip and assorted 

402
00:26:25,600 --> 00:26:29,000
political staff behind their 
matching fronts. 

403
00:26:29,240 --> 00:26:32,920
Each address is its own Warren 
of offices, meeting rooms, 

404
00:26:33,240 --> 00:26:36,840
private spaces and humming with 
the daily business of 

405
00:26:36,840 --> 00:26:39,840
government. 
And, as we come to the Downing 

406
00:26:39,840 --> 00:26:44,360
St. of the present day, a street
securely gated and guarded, A 

407
00:26:44,360 --> 00:26:48,440
metonym for power and a constant
backdrop of nightly news. 

408
00:26:48,840 --> 00:26:52,640
Yet to see it only as a stage 
for prime ministerial briefings 

409
00:26:52,640 --> 00:26:55,960
is to miss its richer, quieter 
story. 

410
00:26:56,920 --> 00:27:01,440
Its walls hold the imprints of 
three generations of lives. 

411
00:27:01,760 --> 00:27:05,040
The Restoration courtiers who 
plotted and entertained behind 

412
00:27:05,040 --> 00:27:07,840
drawn curtains. 
The Hanoverian diplomats who 

413
00:27:07,840 --> 00:27:11,080
dined and schemed. 
The novelists like Smollett who 

414
00:27:11,080 --> 00:27:13,920
stitched together satire from 
their neighbors foibles. 

415
00:27:14,480 --> 00:27:17,480
The widows who supplemented 
their income with lodgers. 

416
00:27:17,880 --> 00:27:21,080
The middle ranking clerks and 
secretaries who hurried home 

417
00:27:21,080 --> 00:27:24,680
from Whitehall offices to modest
garrets a few doors away. 

418
00:27:25,600 --> 00:27:30,320
Even the political exiles like 
the outspoken Count Zenobio left

419
00:27:30,320 --> 00:27:34,040
their marks in the upstairs 
rooms where they baited and 

420
00:27:34,040 --> 00:27:36,640
dreamed. 
When you see that famous black 

421
00:27:36,640 --> 00:27:41,960
door, imagine the layers upon 
layers of history stacked behind

422
00:27:41,960 --> 00:27:44,480
it. 
Picture the medieval monks 

423
00:27:44,480 --> 00:27:47,760
brewing ale on this plot. 
George Downing, the spy turned 

424
00:27:47,760 --> 00:27:50,920
developer cutting corners as he 
built his terrace. 

425
00:27:51,240 --> 00:27:54,040
James Boswell jotting in his 
nervel whilst watching the 

426
00:27:54,040 --> 00:27:57,160
street life below. 
The Countess of Litchfield 

427
00:27:57,160 --> 00:28:02,120
hosting her glittering salons 
and the dull thump of a wartime 

428
00:28:02,120 --> 00:28:04,440
bomb echoing through the 
corridors. 

429
00:28:05,760 --> 00:28:09,400
Downing St. has always been more
than politics. 

430
00:28:09,840 --> 00:28:14,160
It has been a microcosm of 
London itself, merging commerce,

431
00:28:14,400 --> 00:28:18,280
ambition, art, intrigue and the 
day-to-day of business of 

432
00:28:18,280 --> 00:28:21,840
living. 
If you know where to look, you 

433
00:28:21,840 --> 00:28:25,760
can still read that story in its
bricks and its patchwork of 

434
00:28:25,800 --> 00:28:30,520
alterations, and in the stubborn
survival of its last three 

435
00:28:30,520 --> 00:28:34,600
houses. 
The past isn't erased here. 

436
00:28:34,600 --> 00:28:38,680
It's just merely overpainted, 
ready to show through whenever 

437
00:28:38,680 --> 00:28:44,920
the light catches it just right.
If you enjoyed this episode then

438
00:28:44,920 --> 00:28:50,480
you might also enjoy Episode 78,
Georgian Landlords and Episode 

439
00:28:50,480 --> 00:28:55,200
79, Georgian Landladers, where 
my guest Doctor Gillian 

440
00:28:55,200 --> 00:28:59,360
Williamson and I discuss how 
living conditions encourage the 

441
00:28:59,360 --> 00:29:03,520
rise of coffee houses and how 
lodging houses had their own 

442
00:29:03,520 --> 00:29:07,600
micro hierarchy. 
Find out what James Boswell did 

443
00:29:07,600 --> 00:29:10,840
to get kicked out of his 
lodgings in Downing St. and how 

444
00:29:10,840 --> 00:29:15,200
a fire in Soho provided a real 
life account of the assorted 

445
00:29:15,200 --> 00:29:17,960
neighbors. 
As usual, full transcript with 

446
00:29:17,960 --> 00:29:20,120
images can be found on our 
website 

447
00:29:20,240 --> 00:29:25,320
londonguidedwalks.co.uk/podcast.
That's all we have for now. 

448
00:29:25,640 --> 00:29:28,040
Thanks for joining us. 
Until next time.