Famous Ironmongery at 10 Downing Street
British politics has overseen a multitude of changes over the last 300 years. In that time, the country has seen 76 Prime Ministers enter and leave the iconic residence at 10 Downing Street. While the tenants of this famous establishment are constantly revolving, the one thing that has stood the test of time is the easily recognisable front door.
Ironmongery Experts have taken a deep dive into its long and fascinating history as well as the different pieces of ironmongery and hardware used to construct one of the most famous entrances in the world.
The long history of 10 Downing Street dates back as far as 1732. During this year, the residence was offered as a gift to the current Prime Minister Robert Walpole by King George II. After a refusal by Walpole, it was decided that it would be used as the official residency for the First Lord of the Treasury.
It’s a common misconception that 10 Downing Street is the official residence of the UK Prime Minister, but records state that the establishment is home to the First Lord of Treasury. However, since 1905 these two positions have always been held by the same person.
The next prominent event took place in 1766, when Chancellor of the Exchequer Charles Townshend ordered widespread restorations to be made on the property. The whole front door endured a full redesign by famous architect Kenton Couse. The new model was a six-panelled Georgian style door made from black oak.
Further amendments were made in the 1770’s, in which a centre doorknob, a lion head door knocker and a brass letter plate adopting the words ‘First Lord of the Treasury’ were all installed. It was common for British soldiers to touch the lion head knocker for good luck before heading off into war.
The front door wasn’t renumbered to number 10 until 1779. The adjacent buildings originally adopted the numbers 2,3,4, and 5 in the place where the present day 10,11 and 12 are positioned. This created a common belief that the modern day number 10 used to be number 5.
In 1908, Prime Minister Herbert Asquith decided to repaint the entire front door in a shade of dark green. Historian Patrick Baty claims that this change would have been made because green was standard on front doors during this period, whereas black was fairly rare until the 1930’s.
Major re-work then took place in 1960, in which £1,000,000 was spent to renovate and modernise the exterior of 10 Downing Street. Some of the work completed includes a repaint of the front door along with the installation of new white numerals.
Many people will notice that the zero on the front door is wonky. It is common belief that this has been purposely done as a tribute to the original door which featured a poorly fixed ‘0’. However, Professor James Mosley claims that the misshape is actually the capital ‘O’ found in the Roman’s ‘Trajan’ alphabet which was used by the Prime Minister at the time.
The door was replaced with a blast-steel model following an IRA mortar attack on Downing Street in 1991. There are currently two doors that are alternated every two years in order for them to be repainted.
It is now physically impossible to open the door from the outside and the letter plate is now used purely as decoration. A security guard is constantly present to ensure the correct people are entering and leaving the premises.
This is a collaborative post.
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