DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1212#0167
DOWNtNG-STHEET. 109
contrasts with the centre, and under the two pavilions front-
ing the street, mounted sentinels are constantly on duty.
The offices of the War Department are held here. Dover
Home, sometimes called Melbourne House, adjacent to the
Horse Guards, was built by Payne, the architect, for Sir
Matthew Featherstonehaugh. It was subsequently the
residence of Lord Melbourne, the Duke of York, and
Lord Dover. The Treasury Offices are contiguous. The
ancient remnant of a building, forming part of the suite,
is supposed to be a relic of "W'olsev's mansion of York-
place. The Park-front that reaches to the end of
Downing-street, on which a low archway conducts to the
Park, was built after the design of Kent, and consists of
three stories in the Tuscan, Doric, and Ionic styles. The
new building, called the Council Office, facing Whitehall,
was erected in 1826, under the superintendence of Sir
John Soane. In the Treasury Buildings, the Privy
Council office, the Board of Trade, and other government
offices are found. These edifices cover a site where once
stood the ancient Cock Pit formed for the amusement of
Henry VIII., a sport to which even the Maiden Queen
did not refuse her auspices. Downing-street, in which the
destinies of this great country are decided upon, is named
after Sir George Downing, originally an employe' of Crom-
well, and afterwards in the pay of Charles II. In this
street is the official residence of the Prime Minister, or
First Lord of the Treasury, that of the Chancellor of the
Exchequer, the Foreign and Colonial offices, &c. A
history might be written of Downing-street alone; of the
mighty enterprises of which it has been the cradle; of the
eminent ministers who have made it their home. " Here,"
says Leigh Hunt, " Sir Robert Walpole, with whom the
official abode commenced, and who made it his private
residence during the decline of his power, is described by
his son Horace, as ' sitting in a strange unwonted fashion,5
without speaking, and his eyes fixed for an hour together,
lost to the jovial good sense which had secured the
Hanover succession. Here Lord North, having more
contrasts with the centre, and under the two pavilions front-
ing the street, mounted sentinels are constantly on duty.
The offices of the War Department are held here. Dover
Home, sometimes called Melbourne House, adjacent to the
Horse Guards, was built by Payne, the architect, for Sir
Matthew Featherstonehaugh. It was subsequently the
residence of Lord Melbourne, the Duke of York, and
Lord Dover. The Treasury Offices are contiguous. The
ancient remnant of a building, forming part of the suite,
is supposed to be a relic of "W'olsev's mansion of York-
place. The Park-front that reaches to the end of
Downing-street, on which a low archway conducts to the
Park, was built after the design of Kent, and consists of
three stories in the Tuscan, Doric, and Ionic styles. The
new building, called the Council Office, facing Whitehall,
was erected in 1826, under the superintendence of Sir
John Soane. In the Treasury Buildings, the Privy
Council office, the Board of Trade, and other government
offices are found. These edifices cover a site where once
stood the ancient Cock Pit formed for the amusement of
Henry VIII., a sport to which even the Maiden Queen
did not refuse her auspices. Downing-street, in which the
destinies of this great country are decided upon, is named
after Sir George Downing, originally an employe' of Crom-
well, and afterwards in the pay of Charles II. In this
street is the official residence of the Prime Minister, or
First Lord of the Treasury, that of the Chancellor of the
Exchequer, the Foreign and Colonial offices, &c. A
history might be written of Downing-street alone; of the
mighty enterprises of which it has been the cradle; of the
eminent ministers who have made it their home. " Here,"
says Leigh Hunt, " Sir Robert Walpole, with whom the
official abode commenced, and who made it his private
residence during the decline of his power, is described by
his son Horace, as ' sitting in a strange unwonted fashion,5
without speaking, and his eyes fixed for an hour together,
lost to the jovial good sense which had secured the
Hanover succession. Here Lord North, having more