Entrance Hall
Many famous feet have trodden across this entrance hall: from world leaders to sporting heroes. But
this is also where the PM's staff enter each day to work among the myriad corridors and staircases
which snake around the building. 10 Downing Street fulfils many roles – as meeting place, home and
office. The Prime Minister does not have keys to Number 10 but there is always someone on duty to let him in.
Grand Staircase
Sir Robert Walpole took up residence as Prime Minister in 1735 and wanted the design of Number 10
to match his status. He employed a famous architect of the day to renovate the crumbling building
and many of the features he installed, including the central staircase, still exist. Portraits of
every Prime Minister line the walls in chronological order, with the most recent incumbents at the top
and group photographs from past Cabinets and Imperial Conferences at the bottom.
White Drawing Room
Until the 1940s Prime Ministers and their wives kept the White Room for their private use. It was here that
Edward Heath kept his grand piano. The room contains works by one of the most important English
landscape painters of the nineteenth century, J M W Turner. These days it is often used as the backdrop
for television interviews and is in regular use as a meeting room for Downing Street staff. The room
links through to the Terracotta Room next door.
Cabinet Room
Gordon Brown held Cabinet meetings every Tuesday but they were previously held on Thursday mornings.
The only exceptions were during the Second World War and when the house was being renovated.
The room was extended in 1796 by knocking a wall down and inserting columns to carry the extra span.
The Cabinet room is separated from the rest of the house by soundproof doors. A terrorist bomb exploded
in the garden of Number 10 in 1991, only a few metres from where John Major was chairing a Cabinet meeting.
Terracotta Room
This was used as the dining room when Sir Robert Walpole was PM. The name of this room changes according to
the colour it is painted. When Margaret Thatcher came to power it was the Blue Room and she had it
re-decorated and re-named the Green Room. It is now painted terracotta. There are many famous works
of art in this room, on loan from the Government Art Collection.
Pillared Room
The Pillared Room is the largest of the three rooms and is used when international agreements are being
signed or as the main staging area for receptions. This is where the England Rugby Union team was entertained
after winning the World Cup in 2003. The inventor John Logie Baird used the room to demonstrate one of
his new-fangled television sets to Ramsey MacDonald and his children.
The room contains a striking Persian carpet, copied from a 16th century original which can be found in
the Victoria and Albert Museum
Small Dining Room
The Small Dining Room was once known as the breakfast room. Prime Ministers and their families used this
room to have their meals until the flat upstairs was renovated. This was a favourite room of Lloyd George
and can hold up to 12 people.
Sir John Soane designed it in 1827 following a commission from PM Viscount Goderich. The most unusual
feature of this room is the fireplace without a chimney breast. The flues used to get so hot that the
substance holding the window together would melt, causing the glass to fall out.
State Dining Room
Double doors lead you from the Small Dining Room to the larger State Dining room, which is built over
the original vaulted stone kitchen. As with the small dining room, this room was designed by Sir John
Soane in 1827. On the 250th anniversary of Number 10, in 1985, all the surviving Prime Ministers had
dinner together here. This room is used to host the PM's monthly press conference, where he is quizzed by
the world's media.
The Study
The study was a regular workplace for Harold Wilson and also Margaret Thatcher (now Lady Thatcher),
who worked on important documents held in her “red boxes” and held meetings with her officials, a tradition
restored by Gordon Brown. Sir Winston Churchill used the room as sleeping quarters.
The Garden
The Number 10 garden is in constant use. Often used to host events it is kept in pristine condition by a
small team of gardeners.
10 Downing Street
Hundreds of people enter 10 Downing Street every week to attend meetings and receptions and to hand
petitions over to the Prime Minister’s Office.
Downing Street Approach
Walking up Downing Street from Whitehall you have the imposing Foreign and Commonwealth building to
your left and the Prime Minister’s residence on your right.
