Whitehall, London

Whitehall, which preserves the memory of the old palace of that name, is now synonymous with the central government of the country and the civil service.

Coming from Trafalgar Square, we see on the right the Admiralty, the older part of which was built by Thomas Ripley in 1723-26, while the domed building to the rear was added between 1895 and 1907.

Picture - Corner of Downing Street and White Hall Street in London.

Picture - Horse Guards on duty in London.

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Transit: Underground: Westminster, Charing Cross.

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Beyond this is Horse Guards.

On the opposite (west) side of the street is the Ministry of Defence (the old War Office), followed by the Banqueting House and Gwydyr House, a handsome Georgian building erected by John Marquand in 1772, the temporary headquarters of the Royal Commission on Local Government.

On the east side, beyond Horse Guards, are Dover House, occupied by the Scottish Office, and the old Treasury building, now housing the Cabinet Office. It was built during the reign of George I and refaced by Charles Barry in 1845.

To the right lies the little cul-de-sac with the famous name of Downing Street, adjoining the Renaissance-style Public Offices buildings, constructed to plans by G. G. Scott in 1868-1973. The north section now houses the Foreign Office, the Commonwealth Office, the Home Office and the India Office Library, containing over 250,000 volumes of oriental culture. The south section includes the offices of the Treasury and Housing Ministry. The Cabinet War Rooms at the end of King Charles Street are well worth visiting. Opposite the Commonwealth Office stands the Cenotaph.

Whitehall leads into Parliament Square, with various statues of British statesmen.

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Horse Guards

The Horse Guards, a finely proportioned building with a handsome clock tower designed by William Kent (1753), occupies the site of a guard house belonging to the old Palace of Whitehall. It is now occupied by government offices; on the north side of the parade ground is the Admiralty building.

The Household Cavalry consists of two separate regiments, the Life Guards, who wear scarlet tunics and white plumed helmets, and the Blues and Royals, who wear blue tunics and red plumed helmets. The Life Guards originated as a cavalry unit which formed Charles I's bodyguard during the Civil War, the Blues and Royals (formerly the Royal Horse Guards) as a troop of Cromwellian cavalry.

The headquarters of the Household Cavalry are in Hyde Park Barracks, Knightsbridge, some 2.5km/1.5mi from Whitehall. The new guard, riding daily to Horse Guards, passes Buckingham Palace. The changing of the guard and the Sunday parade are among London's greatest tourist attractions.

In June every year, on the Queen's official birthday, the parade ground behind the Horse Guards is the scene of a colorful military spectacle, Trooping the Color.

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Whitehall Palace - Banqueting House

Serving as the venue for government receptions, the Whitehall Palace Banqueting House was amongst the first Renaissance style buildings in the country.

Downing Street

In this quiet, residential street the great decisions on British government policy are taken. No. 10 has been the official residence of the Prime Minister since 1732, when George II presented it to Sir Robert Walpole who, although he did not use the title, can be regarded as the first Prime Minister in the modern sense. No. 11 is the official residence of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and No. 12 is the Government Whip's Office. All three houses are elegant Georgian buildings. Downing Street was built by Sir George Downing, who contrived to hold office under both Cromwell and Charles II and was knighted by the latter in 1660. On February 7, 1991 the IRA fired several rockets aimed at the house, while the Cabinet was in session. Fortunately the rockets fell into the garden and nobody was hurt. Downing Street is closed to public access.

Picture - Priminsters House on Downing Street.

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Cenotaph

The Cenotaph, Britain's memorial to the dead of the two world wars, stands in Whitehall, in the heart of London's government and administrative quarter. Designed by Sir Edward Lutyens, it bears the simple inscription "To the Glorious Dead". The term cenotaph means "empty tomb". Originally constructed of plaster, it was rebuilt in Portland stone in deference to public feeling and unveiled on the second anniversary of the 1918 armistice, 11 November 1920. In the years after the First World War men raised their hats when passing the Cenotaph, even when they were on the top deck of a bus. The Cenotaph bears no religious symbols, in recognition of the fact that the dead belonged to many different races and faiths, but only military emblems - the flags of the army, the air force, the navy and the merchant fleet. Every year on Remembrance Day (the second Sunday in November) at 11 am a memorial service in honor of those who died is held at the Cenotaph, in the presence of the Queen, Members of Parliament, members of the armed forces and other representatives of public life.

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Cabinet War Rooms

The 21 Cabinet War Rooms, situated only a few feet below ground level, were used during the Second World War by the British Cabinet under Sir Winston Churchill. The rooms contain all kinds of mementos of that time, including the telephone which Churchill used for long conversations with President Roosevelt. The Cabinet Room, Map Room, Transatlantic Telephone Room and even Churchill's simple bedroom are all excellently preserved.

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