View source for Garden of 10 and 11 Downing Street

{{short description|Garden behind UK prime minister's official residence}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2023}}
[[File:Downing Street garden path edge (7361631644).jpg|thumb|right|The path edge of the garden at Downing Street.]]
The '''garden of 10 and 11 Downing Street''' is an L-shaped garden, {{cvt|1/2|acres|ha|1}} in size, behind the official residences of the [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom]] and the [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]], [[10 Downing Street|10]] and [[11 Downing Street]] in the Whitehall district of the [[City of Westminster]] in central London. The garden has been gradually developed over the 20th century under successive prime ministers.
==History==
[[File:Downing Street garden balcony (7176412585).jpg|thumb|upright=1.6|right|The view of the garden from the balcony]]
The terrace and garden have provided a casual setting for many gatherings of First Lords with foreign dignitaries, Cabinet ministers, guests, and staff. [[John Major]] announced his 1995 resignation as leader of the Conservative Party in the garden.<ref name="Summerley2015" /> [[Tony Blair]] hosted a farewell reception in 2007 for his staff on the terrace. Churchill called his secretaries the "garden girls" because their offices overlook the garden. It was also the location of the first press conference announcing the Coalition Government between [[David Cameron]]'s [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservatives]] and [[Nick Clegg]]'s [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrats]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/election_2010/8678370.stm |work=BBC News  |title=Welcome to the Dave and Nick Show |date=12 May 2010}}</ref> In September 1941, [[Winston Churchill]] and his wife, [[Clementine Churchill|Clementine]], drank champagne in the garden with five "young Frenchmen" who had escaped from France in a canoe before arriving in Eastbourne after having spent 30 hours in the [[English Channel]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Young Frenchmen at Downing Street|url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CS119355703/TTDA?u=wes_ttda&sid=TTDA&xid=1eb8703e.|access-date=29 May 2020|work=The Times|issue=49038|date=23 September 1941|page=7|via=The Times Digital Archive}}</ref> Blair held a press conference with [[Bill Clinton]] in the garden. Press conferences at the [[White House]] are frequently held at the [[White House Rose Garden]]. It is believed that the similarity of the occasion has given rise to the 'rose garden' nickname which Victoria Summerley, writing in ''Great Gardens of London'' feels is "inaccurate".<ref name="Summerley2015"/>
[[File:Downing Street takes part in London Open Gardens (53777400919).jpg|thumb|left|''Hollow Form with Inner Form'' [[Barbara Hepworth]], in the garden]]
In 2012 [[Michael Craig-Martin]] lent his 2011 sculpture of a large red lightbulb, ''Bulb'', for installation in the garden.<ref name='GACRReport'>{{cite web|title=Government Art Collection Annual Report 2011-2012|url=https://artcollection.culture.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/2011-2012_annual_report.pdf|publisher=[[Government Art Collection]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200530102119/https://artcollection.culture.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/2011-2012_annual_report.pdf|access-date=29 May 2020|archive-date=30 May 2020}}</ref> [[Barbara Hepworth]]'s 1968 sculpture ''Hollow Form with Inner Form'' is situated in the garden, on loan from the [[Government Art Collection]].<ref name="Summerley2015"/><ref name='WorkingArt'>{{cite web|title=A Working Collection|url=https://artcollection.culture.gov.uk/about/a-working-collection/|publisher=[[Government Art Collection]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200530094626/https://artcollection.culture.gov.uk/about/a-working-collection/|access-date=29 May 2020|archive-date=30 May 2020}}</ref><ref name='HollowArt'>{{cite web|title=Hollow Form with Inner Form|url=https://artcollection.culture.gov.uk/artwork/15117/|publisher=[[Government Art Collection]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200530095254/https://artcollection.culture.gov.uk/artwork/15117/|access-date=29 May 2020|archive-date=30 May 2020}}</ref>
In October 1929 ''The Times'' reported on the retirement after 40 years of Downing Street's head gardener, Harry Simpson. Having originally started as a gardener in nearby [[St James's Park]], he had worked in Downing Street under every Prime Minister from [[William Ewart Gladstone|William Gladstone]] to [[Ramsay MacDonald]].<ref>{{cite news|title=News In Brief|url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CS186196290/TTDA?u=wes_ttda&sid=TTDA&xid=94c6ccbb.|access-date=29 May 2020|work=The Times|date=2 October 1929|page=11|via=The Times Digital Archive}}</ref> The main gardener at Downing Street, Paul Schooling, was awarded the [[British Empire Medal]] in the 2010s for his 31 years' service to the Royal Parks and his work at Downing Street over 26 years during the premierships of five Prime Ministers.<ref name='RoyalParks'>{{cite web|title=Keeping the roses sweet for five Prime Ministers|url=https://www.royalparks.org.uk/media-centre/press-releases/keeping-the-roses-sweet-for-five-prime-ministers|publisher=[[The Royal Parks]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200531142100/https://www.royalparks.org.uk/media-centre/press-releases/keeping-the-roses-sweet-for-five-prime-ministers|access-date=30 May 2020|archive-date=31 May 2020}}</ref>
In a 1937 article for ''[[Countryman (magazine)|The Countryman]]'', [[Neville Chamberlain]] related that he once spotted a rare [[Zeuzera pyrina|leopard moth]] in the garden, and put a nesting box in the trees, which was later inhabited by a pair of blue tits. Chamberlain was dismayed to find that one of the blue tits's three eggs had later disappeared.<ref>{{cite news|title=Prime Minister's Garden|url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CS236663081/TTDA?u=wes_ttda&sid=TTDA&xid=99b48b1d.|work=The Times|date=9 September 1937|page=14|via=The Times Digital Archive}}</ref>
An item in ''The Times'' diary in 1989 reported that [[Margaret Thatcher]] had believed she had heard a nightingale in the garden. ''The Sun'' journalist David Kemp recorded the bird, which was then identified as a song thrush by the RSPB.<ref>{{cite news|title=Times Diary|last=Gunn|first=Shelia|url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/IF0500367015/TTDA?u=wes_ttda&sid=TTDA&xid=053124a8.|access-date=29 May 2020|work=The Times|date=3 February 1989|page=16|via=The Times Digital Archive}}</ref>
The garden cost [[The Royal Parks]] £29,137 in half-yearly maintenance in the six months after the [[2010 United Kingdom general election|2010 general election]].<ref name=Teleg11>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/8255387/David-Cameron-spends-thousands-of-pounds-a-month-on-Downing-Street-garden.html|title=David Cameron spends thousands of pounds a month on Downing Street garden|date=13 January 2011|author=Tim Walker|work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|access-date=26 May 2020}}</ref>
The garden has been used for numerous events honouring various public bodies. A party to mark the 100th anniversary of the [[Brownies (Scouting)|Brownies]] was held in 2014. Cameron and [[Barack Obama]] held a barbecue for military personnel in the garden in 2011.<ref name="Summerley2015"/>
A special edition of the [[BBC Radio 4]] programme ''[[Gardeners' Question Time]]'' was broadcast from [[Downing Street]] in December 2016 and featured an interview with the head gardener of the 10 Downing Street garden.<ref name=Teleg16>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/behind-scenes-gardeners-question-time-number-10s-back-garden/|title=Behind the scenes of Gardeners' Question Time, in No 10's back garden|date=21 December 2016|author=Debora Robertson|work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|access-date=26 May 2020}}</ref>
The garden has been opened to the public on six occasions as part of the Open Garden Squares Weekend organised by the [[London Parks & Gardens Trust]].<ref name='LPGT'>{{cite web|title= No.10 Downing Street Garden|url=https://londongardenstrust.org/inventory/gardens-online-record.php?ID=WST027a|work=London Gardens Online – No.10 Downing Street Garden|publisher=London Parks & Gardens Trust|access-date=6 November 2018}}</ref>
[[File:20th February 2013 (8492730336).jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|right|A view of the rear of 10 and 11 Downing Street from the garden]]
During the [[COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom|COVID-19 pandemic]], the garden was the venue for the press conference on 25 May 2020 by [[Dominic Cummings]] over his [[Dominic Cummings scandal|controversial trip to Durham]]. The garden was also used for work meetings by 10 Downing Street staff, given advice to meet outdoors to reduce transmission risks. In January 2022, [[Westminster lockdown parties controversy|controversy]] arose over whether some events in May 2020 were social gatherings or parties  that breached COVID-19 restrictions.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/jan/12/boris-johnson-admits-attending-downing-street-party-during-lockdown Boris Johnson admits attending Downing Street party during lockdown] ''[[The Guardian]]''</ref>
On August 27, 2024, [[Keir Starmer|Sir Keir Starmer]], the UK Prime Minister, utilised the Rose Garden to unveil his plan to "Fix the foundations" of the country. In his remarks, he referenced the location's previous use by Dominic Cummings during a press conference related to a [[Dominic Cummings scandal|controversial trip to Durham]]. Starmer also highlighted the choice of venue to indicate a departure from past administrations, which had been criticized for using the "garden and building... for lockdown parties", and emphasizing how they are "back in service" due to the new government.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Keir Starmer to highlight 'cracks in society' in Downing Street garden speech |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c0rw9edy00zt |access-date=2024-08-27 |website=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref>
==Design==
[[Roy Strong]] described the garden as "one of London's hidden gems". Victoria Summerley, writing in ''Great Gardens of London'' felt that the garden "would not win any medals for garden design" and that the design of the garden was "not an exercise in metropolitan chic or horticultural bling" but instead reflected the features of an "archetypal British back garden" including roses, a shaded area, a large lawn and raised vegetable beds.<ref name="Summerley2015"/> Summerley observed the evolution of the garden's design, noting that in 1964 it featured only a "very straightforward boring layout of lawn" with a "meagre border around the edge" as evidenced in a photograph of [[Harold Wilson]]'s cabinet taken in the garden.<ref name="Summerley2015"/> The shape of the garden has remained unchanged since its creation. The garden's simple design of largely lawn with mature trees, rose beds and flowering shrubs remained unchanged for several years.<ref name='LPGT'/>
The garden behind originally backed on to [[St James's Park]], as evidenced in [[George Lambert (English painter)|George Lambert]]'s 1736–1740 painting of the garden in the collection of the [[Museum of London]]. The painting depicts two "gentlemen in wigs", one of whom is believed to be [[Robert Walpole]].<ref name="Summerley2015">{{cite book|author=Victoria Summerley|title=Great Gardens of London|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9zRhCwAAQBAJ|date=1 October 2015|publisher=Frances Lincoln|isbn=978-1-78101-200-0|page=20}}</ref> Lambert's painting depicts rectilinear borders and a "formal grass parterre with small, box-edged beds filled with topiary, flowering plants and dwarf fruit trees".<ref name="ParkerBetlyon2006">{{cite book|author1=Samuel Thomas Parker|author2=John Wilson Betlyon|title=The Roman Frontier in Central Jordan: Final Report on the Limes Arabicus Project, 1980–1989|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PVZfx3Y6o5IC|year=2006|publisher=Dumbarton Oaks|isbn=978-0-88402-298-5|page=6}}</ref> In 1736, in the first reference to the garden, it was written that "a piece of garden ground...hath been lately made and fitted up at the Charge...of the Crown" with "a piece of garden ground scituate in his Majestys park of St. James's, & belonging & adjoining to the house now inhabited by the Right Honourable the Chancellour of his Majestys Exchequer".<ref name='LPGT'/>
Tubs of flowers line the steps from the terrace; around the walls are rose beds with flowering and evergreen shrubs.<ref name="Jones 180">Jones, p. 180.</ref><ref>Seldon, p. 46.</ref> (See North elevation of Number 10 with steps leading to the garden<ref>[http://www.british-history.ac.uk/image.aspx?compid=68057&filename=figure0748-117-a.gif&pubid=748 figure0748-117-a], british-history.ac.uk</ref>)<ref>British History Online, From: '[http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=68057 Plate 117: No. 10, Downing Street: elevation and general view]', Survey of London: volume 14: St Margaret, Westminster, part III: Whitehall II (1931), pp. 117. Date accessed: 21 July 2008.</ref> The terrace features lead planters inscribed with '1666' and 'CR' (an abbreviation of 'Carolus Rex').<ref name="Summerley2015"/>
The [[bird table]] in the garden was donated by the BBC children's television programme ''[[Blue Peter]]'', an addition to the garden that Strong felt was "more appropriate for a between-the-wars semi" and "wrong for a Georgian townhouse".<ref name="Summerley2015"/> The pond was built by the [[Wildlife Trust]] in 2000.<ref name="Summerley2015"/>
The third shell launched in the [[Provisional Irish Republican Army]]'s [[Downing Street mortar attack|mortar attack on Downing Street]] exploded in the garden, leaving a 1-meter crater. A [[woodland garden]] was created around the crater with cherry trees and [[daphne odora]].<ref name="Summerley2015"/>
The [[rose bed]]s were commissioned by [[Margaret Thatcher]]. They were planted with [[David C. H. Austin|David Austin]] roses including a rose named for Thatcher herself.<ref name="Summerley2015"/>
A play area for the Cameron's children with a climbing frame and slide was built in the garden during David Cameron's premiership. [[Roy Strong]] described the addition of the play area as "ghastly".<ref name="Summerley2015"/>
Since the advent of the 21st century the design of garden has reflected environmental concerns and features introduced have included a rose walk, box shaped beds and borders and curved paths.<ref name="LPGT" /> These features were introduced under the premiership of [[Tony Blair]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=White|first=Michael|date=26 February 2013|title=Downing Street garden reveals its secrets|url=http://www.theguardian.com/politics/shortcuts/2013/feb/26/downing-street-garden-secrets|access-date=4 June 2020|website=The Guardian|language=en}}</ref>
[[Gordon Brown|Gordon]] and [[Sarah Jane Brown|Sarah Brown]] installed a [[Kitchen garden#Vegetable garden|vegetable patch]] in the garden in 2009 after being prompted by [[Michelle Obama]], who had initiated the [[White House Vegetable Garden]]. Obama had visited the Downing Street garden in April 2009 and told Sarah Brown that "You know about the White House vegetable garden and you can do one here". Produce from the garden was served in the Downing Street staff canteen. The garden contained "strawberries, tomatoes, beetroot, parsnips, peppers, chard and courgettes" at the time of its public unveiling. The Browns were assisted by their children in planting the garden. Boxes and plants to attract bees and ladybirds were due to be installed at a later date.<ref name=Teleg09>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/gordon-brown/5896128/Browns-show-off-Downing-St-veg-patch.html|title=Browns show off Downing St veg patch|date=24 July 2009|work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200530103534/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/gordon-brown/5896128/Browns-show-off-Downing-St-veg-patch.html|access-date=29 May 2020|archive-date=30 May 2020}}</ref> Writing in ''The Daily Telegraph'', Tim Walker noted that Sarah Brown's vegetable garden had become "woefully neglected" by July 2010 and was told that [[David Cameron|David]] and [[Samantha Cameron]] "had been too pre-occupied to think much about it — he with sorting out the economic mess that Gordon Brown had left him, and she with her pregnancy".<ref name=Teleg11/>
Water for the garden is provided by an underground tank that reuses rainwater, installed in 2009.<ref name='LPGT'/>
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Commons category|Garden of 10 and 11 Downing Street}}
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[[Category:10 Downing Street]]
[[Category:Geography of the City of Westminster]]
[[Category:Gardens in London]]
[[Category:18th-century establishments in England]]