Whitehall

The term Whitehall is used to describe the administrative centre of the UK government. For other uses, see Whitehall (disambiguation).

Whitehall is a road in London, England running past the Houses of Parliament from Trafalgar Square, but the term refers to the surrounding area and its government offices, and the term is often used by extension to refer to the British Civil Service or the UK government itself. The Cenotaph, the principal war memorial of Great Britain, is located in the centre of the road, and is the site of the annual memorial ceremonies on Remembrance Sunday.

Downing Street leads off of the west side of Whitehall; security gates were erected at the entrance to Downing Street in 1989. A van parked in Whitehall was used to launch a terrorist mortar attack on 10 Downing Street in 1991. Fortunately the shell missed the building and nobody was hurt.

The name Whitehall derives from the vast Palace of Whitehall that used to occupy the surrounding area.

Table of contents

1 Buildings in Whitehall
2 Government offices in Whitehall
3 See Also