48, 49 AND 50, DOWNING STREET

Nos 48, 49 and 50 Downing Street form a unified scheme dating from the 18th century. The central three-storey block is constructed of brick with a projecting plinth. It features a moulded wooden cornice supported by pairs of cut scroll brackets, and has an old tile roof with flanking chimneys. Originally, it had five windows to the upper floors and four on the ground floor; however, two Georgian-style shop fronts were inserted in the 1950s, flanking the central doorway. The original six-panel door was previously adorned with a brass sphinx-head knocker and is accompanied by an arched fanlight with a radiating and wreathed pattern. The doorcase includes a panelled reveal and engaged reeded three-quarter oval Doric columns, topped by a broken entablature with enriched oval panels to the frieze and an open pediment of delicate detail. The central block is flanked by symmetrical two-storey wings of similar design, each with a single three-light window on the first floor, retaining its original glazing bars. The right-hand wing incorporates a small early 19th-century shop window with three panes in height and a half-glazed door, set within panelled pilasters and an entablature, alongside a six-panel house door and arched radiating fanlight. The left-hand wing has a similar house door with a circular fanlight, and a 19th-century style shop window.

The listed buildings from Nos 44 to 57A Downing Street form a group, while Nos 50, 51, 51A and 52, together with a range of outbuildings in the north-east corner of the yard (located between Nos 51 and 51A) comprise a smaller group within this main street grouping.