Temporary Barriers on Downing Street, London 1984

This 1984 view looks into Downing Street at a point when access was being controlled by temporary barriers rather than the permanent gates seen today. A police officer stands speaking to visitors at the entrance, while metal crowd-control barriers line both sides of the roadway and the formal government buildings rise on either side of the street. The scene captures a transitional phase in the security history of Downing Street, before the familiar black gates were installed later in the decade. It is also a strong architectural view, with the grand façades of Whitehall’s government quarter framing a street that still looked comparatively open, even as tighter security arrangements were beginning to take shape.