 Whitehall pictured in 2012, withThe Cenotaph andMonument to the Women of World War II in the middle of the carriageway, and the Elizabeth Tower housingBig Ben in the background. | |
  Location within Central London | |
| Former name(s) | The Street, King Street |
|---|---|
| Part of | A3212 |
| Maintained by | Transport for London |
| Length | 0.4 mi (0.64 km)[1] |
| Location | Westminster, London |
| Postal code | SW1 |
| Nearest Tube station | |
| Coordinates | 51°30′15″N00°07′35″W / 51.50417°N 0.12639°W /51.50417; -0.12639 |
| North end | Trafalgar Square |
| South end | The Cenotaph |
| Other | |
| Known for | |
Whitehall is a road and area in theCity of Westminster, Central London, England. The road forms the first part of theA3212 road fromTrafalgar Square toChelsea. It is the main thoroughfare running south from Trafalgar Square towardsParliament Square. The street is recognised as the centre of theGovernment of the United Kingdom and is lined with numerous departments and ministries, including theMinistry of Defence,Horse Guards, theCabinet Office, and much of theForeign Office. Consequently, the name "Whitehall" is used as ametonym for the Britishcivil service andgovernment, and as the geographic name for the surrounding area.
ThePalace of Whitehall previously occupied the area and was the residence of KingsHenry VIII through toWilliam III, before it was destroyed by fire in 1698; only theBanqueting House has survived. Whitehall was originally a wide road that led to the gates of the palace; the route to the south was widened in the 18th century, following the destruction of the palace, and the area was largely rebuilt for government offices.
As well as government buildings, the street is known for its memorial statues and monuments, including the UK's primary war memorial,the Cenotaph. South of the Cenotaph the thoroughfare becomesParliament Street. The Whitehall Theatre (now theTrafalgar Studios) was formerly associated with aseries of farces.
The name Whitehall was used for several buildings in theTudor period.[2] It either referred to a building made of light stone, or as a general term for any festival building. This included the RoyalPalace of Whitehall, which in turn gave its name to the street.[3]
The street is about 0.4 miles (0.64 km) long and runs through theCity of Westminster. It is part of theA3212, a main road in Central London that leads towardsChelsea via theHouses of Parliament andVauxhall Bridge. It runs south fromTrafalgar Square, past numerous government buildings, including the oldWar Office building,Horse Guards, theMinistry of Defence, theCabinet Office, and theDepartment of Health. It ends at theCenotaph, the road ahead being Parliament Street.Great Scotland Yard andHorse Guards Avenue branch off to the east, whileDowning Street branches off to the west at the southern section of the street.[1]
The nearesttube stations areCharing Cross at the north end, andWestminster at the south. Numerous London bus routes run along Whitehall, including 12, 24, 88, 159 and 453.[4]
There has been a route connecting Charing Cross to Westminster since theMiddle Ages; the 12th-century historianWilliam Fitzstephen described it as "a continued suburb, mingled with large and beautiful gardens, and orchards belonging to the citizens".[5] The name Whitehall was originally only used for the section of road between Charing Cross andHolbein Gate; beyond this it was known as The Street as far asKing Street Gate, then King Street thereafter. It had become a residential street by the 16th century, and had become a popular place to live by the 17th, with residents includingLord Howard of Effingham andEdmund Spenser.[2][6]
The Palace of Whitehall, to the east of the road, was originally named York Palace, but was renamed during the reign ofHenry VIII.[a] The palace was redesigned in 1531–32 and became the King's main residence later in the decade. He marriedAnne Boleyn here in 1533, followed byJane Seymour in 1536, and died at the palace in 1547.Charles I owned an extensive art collection at the palace[3] and several ofWilliam Shakespeare's plays had their first performances here.[8] It ceased to be the royal residence after 1689, whenWilliam III moved toKensington Palace for his health to escape what had become dense urban surroundings. The palace was damaged by fire in 1691, following which the front entrance was redesigned bySir Christopher Wren. In 1698, most of the vast palace burned to the ground accidentally after a fire started by a careless washerwoman.[3]
Wallingford House was constructed in 1572 byWilliam Knollys, 1st Earl of Banbury along the western edge of Whitehall.[9] TheDuke of Buckingham bought the house in 1622,[10] and it was subsequently used by Charles I. During the reign of William III, it was bought for theAdmiralty.[11] The Old Admiralty Buildings now sit on the house's site.[9]
Banqueting House was built as an extension to the Palace of Whitehall in 1622 byInigo Jones. It is the only surviving portion of the palace after it was burned down, and was the firstRenaissance building in London.[12] It later became a museum to theRoyal United Services Institute and has been opened to the public since 1963.[13]
Oliver Cromwell moved to the street in 1647, taking up residence in Wallingford House.[11] Two years later, Charles I was carried through Whitehall on the way tohis trial atWestminster Hall. Whitehall itself was a wide street and had sufficient space for a scaffold to be erected for the King's execution at Banqueting House.[2] He made a brief speech there before being beheaded.[14][b] Cromwell died at the Palace of Whitehall in 1658.[3]
During theGreat Plague of London in 1665, people boarded coaches at Whitehall, then at the edge of urban London, in an attempt to escape. The King and court temporarily moved toOxford to avoid the plague, whileSamuel Pepys remarked in his diary on 29 June, "By water to Whitehall, where the Court is full of waggons and people ready to go out of town. This end of town every day grows very bad with plague".[16]
By the 18th century, traffic was struggling along the narrow streets south of Holbein Gate, which led to King Street Gate being demolished in 1723. Holbein Gate, in turn, was demolished in 1759. Meanwhile, Parliament Street was a side road alongside the palace, leading to thePalace of Westminster. After the Palace of Whitehall was destroyed, Parliament Street was widened to match Whitehall's width.[17] The present appearance of the street dates from 1899 after a group of houses between Downing Street andGreat George Street were destroyed.[2]
On 8 March 1973, theIRA detonated a bomb in front of the Ministry of Agriculture building in Whitehall, injuring a number of bystanders.[18] On 7 February 1991, the IRAlaunched a mortar attack on10 Downing Street in an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate Prime MinisterJohn Major and his cabinet.
By the time the palace was destroyed, separation of crown and state had become important, withParliament being necessary to control military requirements and pass laws. The government wanted to be some distance from the monarch, and the buildings around Whitehall, physically separated fromSt James's Palace bySt James's Park, seemed to be a good place for ministers to work.[19]
TheHorse Guards building was designed byWilliam Kent, and built during the 1750s on a formertiltyard site, replacing an earlier guard-house erected during the Civil War. The building includes an archway for coach traffic and two pedestrian arches that provide access between Whitehall andHorse Guards Parade. The central archway is marked with "SMF" and "StMW", and denotes the boundary betweenSt Martin-in-the-Fields andSt Margaret's church parish boundaries.[20]
During the 19th century, as private leases ran out on residential buildings, ownership reverted to the Crown, which began to use them as public offices.[6] The name "Whitehall" is now used as ametonym to refer to that part of thecivil service which is involved in thegovernment of the United Kingdom.[2] The street's central portion is dominated by military buildings, including theMinistry of Defence, with the former headquarters of theBritish Army andRoyal Navy, theRoyal United Services Institute, the Horse Guards building and theAdmiralty, on the opposite side.[20] Government buildings on Whitehall, from north to south, include The Admiralty Buildings,[2] theDepartment for International Development at No. 22, theDepartment of Energy and Climate Change at No. 55,[21] the OldWar Office,[2] theOffice of the Parliamentary Counsel at No. 36,[2] theHorse Guards,[2] theMinistry of Defence Main Building,[2]Dover House (containing theScotland Office),[2]Gwydyr House (containing theWales Office),[2] theCabinet Office at No. 70,[22] theForeign and Commonwealth Office[2] and theGovernment Offices Great George Street (HM Treasury,HM Revenue and Customs and parts of the Cabinet Office).[2]
Scotland Yard, the headquarters of London'sMetropolitan Police Service, was originally located inGreat Scotland Yard off the north-eastern end of Whitehall. The buildings had been lodgings for the Kings of Scotland, on part of the old Palace of Whitehall's grounds; by the 19th century, Little and Middle Scotland Yard had been merged into Whitehall Place, leaving only Great Scotland Yard. No. 4 Whitehall Place had become vacant by the 1820s, which allowedSir Robert Peel to use it as the main headquarters when forming the police in 1829. It was formally named the Metropolitan Police Office, but became quickly known as Great Scotland Yard, and eventually Scotland Yard. The buildings were damaged in a series of bombings byIrish nationalists in 1883, and an explosion from aFenian terrorist attack on 30 May 1884 blew a hole in Scotland Yard's outer wall and destroyed the neighbouring Rising Sun pub. The headquarters was moved away from Whitehall in 1890.[23]
Downing Street leads off the south-west end of Whitehall, just above Parliament Street. It was named afterSir George Downing, who built a row of houses along the street around 1680 leading west from Whitehall. Following a number of terrorist attacks, the road was closed to the public in 1990, when security gates were erected at both ends. On 7 February 1991, theProvisional IRAfired mortars from a van parked in Whitehall towardsNo. 10, one of which exploded in the gardens.[24][25]
Additional security measures have been put in place along Whitehall to protect government buildings, following a £25 million streetscape project undertaken byWestminster City Council. The project has provided wider pavements and better lighting, along with installing hundreds of concrete and steel security barriers.[26]
Richmond House, at No. 79, has held theDepartment of Health since 1987. The building is scheduled to be a temporary debating chamber from 2025, while theHouses of Parliament undergo a refurbishment and modernisation programme.[27]
Statues and memorials have been built on and around Whitehall, commemorating military victories and leaders. The Cenotaph was designed bySir Edwin Lutyens and erected at the southern end in 1919, commemorating victory inWorld War I and later used as a memorial for both World Wars. It is the main war memorial in Britain and an annual service is held here onRemembrance Sunday, led by the reigning monarch and leading politicians.[28] In 2005, a nationalMonument to the Women of World War II was erected a short distance north of the Cenotaph in the middle of the Whitehall carriageway.[29]
TheRoyal Tank Regiment Memorial is at the north east end of Whitehall, whereWhitehall Court meets Whitehall Place. Erected in 2000, it commemorates the use of tanks in both World Wars and depicts five World War II tank crew members. TheGurkha Memorial is to the south of this, onHorse Guards Avenue to the east of Whitehall.[30]
Whitehall is also home to six other monuments. From north to south, these are ofPrince George, Duke of Cambridge (Commander-in-Chief of the British Army),Liberal Party,Liberal Unionist Party andUnionists leaderSpencer Cavendish, 8th Duke of Devonshire,Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig (known as theEarl Haig Memorial),[c]Field Marshal Montgomery (commander of the8th Army, the21st Army Group andChief of the Imperial General Staff),[3]William Slim, 1st Viscount Slim, Commander of the14th Army andGovernor-General of Australia,[32] andAlan Brooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke,Chief of the Imperial General Staff.[33]
TheWhitehall Theatre opened in 1930 at the north west end of the street, on a site that had previously been Ye Old Ship Tavern in the 17th century. The revueWhitehall Follies opened in 1942, which drew controversy over its explicit content featuring the stripper and actressPhyllis Dixey. The theatre became known for itsseries of farces, reviving a tradition on Whitehall that had begun withcourt jesters at the palace during the 16th century; these included several plays featuringactor-managerBrian Rix throughout the 1950s and '60s, and 1981's satiricalAnyone for Denis, written byJohn Wells andPrivate Eye editorRichard Ingrams.[34] The venue wasGrade II listed in 1996 and renamed theTrafalgar Studios in 2004.[35]
Because of its importance as the centre of the British government, several political comedies are based in and around Whitehall. These include the BBC television seriesYes Minister andThe Thick of It.[36]
Whitehall is one of three purple squares on the BritishMonopoly board, along withPall Mall andNorthumberland Avenue. All three streets converge at Trafalgar Square.[8]
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