Editing Downing Street (section)

== History ==
[[File:Sir George Downing by Thomas Smith.jpeg|thumb|left|[[Sir George Downing, 1st Baronet]]]]
The street was built in the 1680s by [[Sir George Downing, 1st Baronet]], on the site of a mansion, Hampden House. Little is known about what was on the site before the mansion, but there is evidence of a brewhouse called 'The Axe', owned by the [[Abbey of Abingdon]], and the premises of the goldsmith [[Everard Everdyes]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/vol14/pt3/pp105-112|title=Downing Street (Hampden House) - British History Online|website=www.british-history.ac.uk}}</ref>

Downing was a soldier and diplomat who served under [[Oliver Cromwell]] and [[Charles II of England|King Charles II]], and who invested in properties and acquired considerable wealth.<ref>Bolitho, pp. 16–21.</ref><ref>Jones, pp. 24–32.</ref><ref>Feely, pp. 17–31.</ref> In 1654, he purchased the lease on land east of [[St James's Park]], adjacent to the House at the Back, and within walking distance of Parliament. Downing planned to build a row of townhouses "for persons of good quality to inhabit".<ref name="multiref2">Minney, p. 28.</ref> However, the Hampden family had a lease which prevented their construction for 30 years.<ref>Feely, pp. 28–31.</ref> When the Hampden lease expired, Downing received permission to build further west to take advantage of recent developments. The new warrant issued in 1682 reads: "Sir George Downing ... [is authorised] to build new and more houses further westward on the grounds granted him by the patent of 1663/4 Feb. 23. The present grant is by reason that the said [[Cockfight|Cockpit]] or the greater part thereof is since demolished; but it is to be subject to the proviso that it be not built any nearer than 14 feet of the wall of the said Park at the West end thereof."<ref name="multiref2"/>

Between 1682 and 1684, Downing built the [[cul-de-sac]] of two-storey townhouses with coach-houses, stables and views of St James's Park. How many he built is not clear; most historians say 15, others say 20. The addresses changed several times; Number 10 was numbered 5 for a while, and was renumbered in 1787.<ref>Jones, p. 41.</ref> Downing employed [[Christopher Wren|Sir Christopher Wren]] to design the houses. Although large, they were put up quickly and cheaply on soft soil with shallow foundations. The fronts had facades with lines painted on the surface imitating brick mortar. [[Winston Churchill]] wrote that Number 10 was "shaky and lightly built by the profiteering contractor whose name they bear".<ref>Bolitho, p. 20.</ref>

[[File:View of the old Foreign Office and other buildings on Downing Street, Westminster. 1827.jpg|thumb|View of the old Foreign Office and other buildings on Downing Street in an 1827 watercolour by [[John Chessell Buckler]]]]
The upper end of the Downing Street cul-de-sac closed access to St James's Park, making the street quiet and private. An advertisement in 1720 described it as "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's Park, with a Tarras Walk".<ref>Minney, p. 34.</ref> The houses had several distinguished residents. The [[Earl of Yarmouth|Countess of Yarmouth]] lived at Number 10 between 1688 and 1689, [[George Granville, 1st Baron Lansdowne|Lord Lansdowne]] from 1692 to 1696 and the [[Henry de Nassau d'Auverquerque, 1st Earl of Grantham|Earl of Grantham]] from 1699 to 1703. The diarist [[James Boswell]] took rooms in Downing Street during his stay in London during 1762–63 at a rent of £22 per annum.  He records having dealings with prostitutes in the adjacent park.

Downing probably never lived in his townhouses. In 1675, he retired to Cambridge, where he died a few months after the houses were completed. His portrait hangs in the entrance foyer of the modern Number 10.<ref>Jones, see back cover picture credited to Robert Hill @ BBC.</ref>

[[Downing College, Cambridge]] was founded in 1800, under the terms of the will of [[Sir George Downing, 3rd Baronet]] (died  1749). A door from Number 10 is in use in the college.<ref>History of [[Downing College, Cambridge#History|Downing College, Cambridge]]</ref>

The houses between Number 9 and Whitehall were acquired by the government and demolished in 1824 to allow the construction of the [[Privy Council Office (United Kingdom)|Privy Council Office]], [[Board of Trade]] and [[HM Treasury|Treasury]] offices. In 1861, the houses on the south side of Downing Street were replaced by purpose-built government offices for the [[Foreign Office]], [[India Office]], [[Colonial Office]], and the [[Home Office]].