Whitehall

Whitehall is a street in London in the government district of Westminster.

About two thirds of the stretch from Trafalgar Square to Parliament Square is called Whitehall, the remaining third is called Parliament Street. Both streets together have a length of almost a mile (about one and a half kilometers).

The name comes from the spacious Palace of Whitehall, which used to stand there and was largely destroyed by fire in 1698. Whitehall was originally a wide street leading to the palace, while Parliament Street was a small side street leading along the palace to the Houses of Parliament. After Whitehall Palace was destroyed and its ruins demolished, Parliament Street was widened so that it now has the same width as Whitehall. The two streets are indistinguishable on the ground; only a sign indicates where one street begins and the other ends.

The Banqueting House, built in 1622 by Inigo Jones, is the remaining remnant of the former palace. Charles I stepped out of a first-floor window onto a scaffold erected outside the building on 30 January 1649, where he was executed. To this day, royalists regularly commemorate the event on its anniversary.

The Cenotaph, the most important war memorial in Britain, is located in the middle of the street and is the site of the annual Remembrance Day commemorations.

The central part of the street is dominated by military buildings, including the Ministry of Defence and the former headquarters of the British Army (now the Horse Guards) and the Royal Navy (Admiralty). Furthermore, the street contains an equestrian monument to George, 2nd Duke of Cambridge, a former commander-in-chief of the British Army. The term Whitehall is therefore often used as a synonym for the Ministry of Defence, while the term Westminster refers to Parliament and the Government.

Downing Street branches off the southwest end of Whitehall, just before Parliament Street. It is no longer open to the public and is protected at both ends by two security gates erected in 1989. On 7 February 1991, a terrorist grenade attack was launched at No. 10 Downing Street from a van parked on Whitehall. The shot missed the building and four people were injured, including two police officers.

Scotland Yard, the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, was originally located at the north-east end of the street.

Government Buildings in Whitehall (from north to south).

• Admiralty
• Old War Office
• Horse Guards
• Ministry of Defence
• Wales Office
• Scotland Office
• Cabinet Office
• Foreign Office
• No. 10 Downing Street
• HM Treasury
• Department of Health

Other buildings in Whitehall

• Banqueting House
• Silver Cross Tavern
• Whitehall Theatre

51.5041666667-0.126388888889Coordinates: 51° 30′ 15″ N, 0° 7′ 35″ W