Entrance Hall
Many famous feet have trodden 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.
Interesting items
Hall Porters' chair
This is a Chippendale-designed hooded chair which was used by attendants in the days when they sat on watch in the street. It has a drawer beneath the seat where hot coals were placed to keep the guards warm on chilly nights. The scratches in the leather were caused by their pistols.
Portrait of George Downing
Downing Street was built as a result of one man's scheming. Sir George Downing was an enterprising rogue - a spy, traitor and shady property developer - who saw building houses on prime London land as a means to get rich quick. He bought the land that Downing Street is built on in 1682 and pulled down the existing properties, replacing them with terraced houses. Designed for a quick turnover, Downing's houses were cheaply built, with poor foundations for the boggy ground. Instead of neat brick facades, they had mortar lines drawn on to look like even-spaced bricks.
Grandfather Clock
This grandfather clock, by Benson of Whitehaven, sits to the left of the hooded chair in the hall. Its chimes irritated Winston Churchill so much that he had the musical machinery turned off.
Travelling Chest
Next to the door is the travelling chest of the Duke of Wellington. Special hinges down the side mean that all the drawers can be locked in one action. It is believed that Wellington may have had this chest with him at the battle of Waterloo in 1815.
- Move on the the Cabinet Room
