The Fake No. 10 Downing Street
Does this door look familiar?
It’s not the world famous No. 10 Downing Street but an impersonator!
This is actually 10 Adam Street just off the Strand, designed by the architect Robert Adam as part of a number of neoclassical terraced houses known as ‘Adelphi’ from 1768-92.
10 Adam Street
The real 10 Downing Street door was built almost the same time as part of renovations between 1766 -1772!
The real deal…
Today the building (known as Adam House) is serviced offices so you too could rent a workspace (for as little as £29 per day) and each morning pretend you’re off to see the Prime Minister…
In the meantime though you can play spot the difference;
10 Downing Street Trivia
- The ‘0’ in 10 is painted in quite an eccentric style, strictly at a 37° angle anticlockwise.
- Following an IRA mortar bomb attack in 1991 the original door was replaced by a blast-proof steel one.
- It’s now so heavy that each time it’s refurbished it takes eight people to lift it!
- As you’d expect from a high security address the door cannot be opened from the outside, there’s always someone on the inside of the door 24 hours a day to open it from the inside.
- Step inside 10 Downing Street with this 360° tour from gov.uk
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Green David
I think that the real Downing Street has the letter O rather than the number zero. Apparently the Ministry of Works at the time didn’t have a zero. Maybe urban myth…
Katie Wignall
Love it. I haven’t heard that one! You can see one version of the front door from history in the Churchill War Rooms and the circle it’s slightly tilted – rather than dead straight – by design. I agree it does look quite round for a ‘zero’ though