Have a guess what the most famous door in the UK might open onto. Perhaps the UK’s most beautiful woman? Perhaps … Liam Gallagher of Oasis? Perhaps it’s the door to the Chief’s office in The Bill? Well, that would be close to the most famous door in the UK! But this one has certainly seen many more people with much more power and influence than that one – it is Number 10 Downing Street, London , SW1A 2AA. It opens onto the British Prime Minister’s home, offices, meeting rooms and dining rooms. For such an important door, it is really very nondescript, if much cleaner and better-looked after than many of our own doors!

The door came into being as a political figure (!) around 1732, when King George II offered 9 Downing Street, and the ‘house at the back’, a mansion built in 1530, to Robert Walpole, who is often known as the first Prime Minister of England. Walpole accepted the gift on the condition that they would be a gift to the office he held, rather than himself personally. That office was the First Lord of the Treasury, and in recent times, whoever is Prime Minister is also First Lord of the Treasury.

His generosity and selflessness is a bit more understandable when you are told that Number 10 was not actually that nice of a place to live! A bit of a backhanded compliment from old Georgey ☺ It was constructed poorly, on boggy soil, and had been chronically neglected in the couple of hundred years since it was originally built.

Some of the modifications that Walpole had made to the original number 9 and the ‘house at the back’ sound architecturally very impressive, also. He had a contractor named William Kent join the two residences, and under his direction craftsmen prepared a stone triple staircase in the main part of the original number 10 (heavy, structurally difficult, and inordinately expensive, but so beautiful!). The staircase had an iron balustrade, which was probably made of wrought iron, given the era. Have a look at the Wrought Iron Maidens post for more info on that… this was topped off with a mahogany handrail. So gorgeously understated! No need for flashy gold and sparkly bits, just natural, raw power and beauty. Somewhat like the residents of the house, over the years…

The door is currently painted black – the Chinese consulate in Britain calls it the “ominous black door” of 10 Downing Street. The black color, in both Western popular and Oriental colour psychology, denotes gravity, seriousness, authority and groundedness. It is the colour of “night, deep waters and the universal void”… a rather poetic way to see the door to some of the most basic and prosaic of occurrences. But also strangely fitting!

Did you also notice the knocker is painted black? Or perhaps is also made of wrought iron which has weathered and blackened. An interesting effect, regardless, for a very interesting door!

Photo credits: Number 10 by Matthew Robinson

          

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