Bank of England Titbits

The mere mention of the Bank of England (BOE) may be enough to send some of you too sleep, but having recently been on the highly informative tour of the bank, it has actually got a lot of interesting history behind it, as well as being an amazingly beautiful building on the inside.

The Bank of England was originally founded to act as the Government’s banker and debt-manager. However since those days – fast forward more than 300 years and its role has developed and evolved, centred on the management of the nation’s currency and its position at the centre of the UK’s financial system. Including being responsible for the control of the nation’s interest rate and inflation, the bank also controls the foreign exchange reserves and acts as the banker’s bank  and issues notes and coins.

Bank of England Titbits

1. The Bank of England was founded on the 27 July 1694.
2. A Scottish merchant William Paterson was the brains behind the Bank of England. The Government of the day was broke from continued wars with France and was in desperate need of funds to rebuild the navy. He proposed a loan of £1.2 million which came from subscribers who would receive a dividend for providing the money and of course the government would pay interest on their loans.
3. The first Governor of the Bank of England was Sir John Houblon 1694 – 1697 and the present Governor is Mervyn Allister King who took on the role in 2003.
4. The Bank of England bears the nickname ‘The Old Lady of Threadneedle Street’ after a 1797 cartoon by James Gilray depicting the bank as an old lady sitting on a chest of gold being forcibly courted by William Pitt the Younger who was the Prime Minister of the day.
5. Queen Elizabeth II is the only monarch to have appeared on a banknote, as monarchs have only appeared on banknotes since 1960.
6. An interesting fact that gives you an indication as to how huge a building the Bank of England is, there are seven storeys above ground and three below. – there is more space below ground at the BOE than there is above ground at Tower 42.
7. The Bank’s original home was in Walbrook in the City of London, they moved to their current location in Threadneedle Street in 1734. Which was probably the first purpose built bank in Britain.
8. The Banks building in Threadneedle Street was originally only 80 feet wide (25m) and 300 feet (90m) long when the Bank originally moved in. Over the next one hundred years the site was gradually extended until by 1828 the current outline was achieved and it is now covers around 3.5 acres. Next time you are in the area walk the banks perimeter and think there are seven floors up the way and three below ground.
9. Wind in The Willows author Kenneth Grahame worked at the Bank of England for 30 years. He resigned 4 months before the book was published. A notable incident occurred during Kenneth Grahame’s banking carer, when on the 24 November 1903 he narrowly avoided being shot to death by a madman at the bank. He was shot at 3 times, each bullet missing him. It is amazing to think that Wind in The Willows was published less than 5 years later and how close we were to not having such a literary piece of genius.
10. To open the doors to the vaults of the BOE, you need two 3 feet long keys, yes I kid you not. You aint going to conceal those things in your pocket. Even if you somehow manage to steal the keys, you still need to speak a password into a microphone for the door to open  in order to get  your hands on the gold.

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1. Free Bank Of England Tour