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Bank of England Review

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Bank of England

Address: Threadneedle St., The City, London, EC2R 8AH | Map It
Phone: 020/7601-5545
www.bankofengland.co.uk

Category: Financial Institutions
Location: The City

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Fodor's Review:

Known for the past couple of centuries as "the Old Lady of Threadneedle Street," after the name appeared in a caption to a political cartoon (which can be seen in the museum), the country's top vault, which has been central to the British economy since 1694, manages the national debt and the foreign exchange reserves, issues banknotes, sets interest rates, looks after England's gold, and regulates the country's banking system. Sir John Soane designed the neoclassical hulk in 1788, wrapping it in windowless walls, which are all that survives of his original building. It's ironic that an executive of so sober an institution should have been Kenneth Grahame, author of The Wind in the Willows. This and other facets of the bank's history are traced in the Bank of England Museum (entrance is around the corner on Bartholomew Lane). The museum comes to life with the interactive exhibits that chart the bank's more recent history, including the chance to try your hand at controlling inflation, but most visitors still make a beeline for the solid-gold bar that can be stroked and held in the central trading hall (but before you get any ideas, there's security everywhere).

Cost: Free
Open: Weekdays and Lord Mayor's Show day (2nd Sat. in Nov.) 10-5
Tube: Bank, Monument

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