Bank of England
Threadneedle Street
London
EC2R 8AH
Visitor Information
Built: 1734
Architect: George Sampson (1732-4); Sir Robert Taylor (1765-88); Sir John Soane (1788-1827); Sir Herbert Baker (1921-39)
Size: 14,164m²
No list of London architecture would be complete without this vast stone building. To get a true picture of the vastness of the Bank – nicknamed 'The Old Lady of Threadneedle Street' – it is best to see it from above. In the 100 years since it first moved to these purpose-built premises on Threadneedle Street in 1734 (which were only 25 x 90 metres) the site was gradually extended by the above architects until, by 1828, the current outline was achieved. The building, which was almost completed by the end of 1939, is essentially a steel skeleton on which the stone is hung.
George Sampson was its first architect but few details of his work between 1732 and 1734 have survived. Following Sampson was Sir Robert Taylor, who between 1765 and1788 extended the Threadneedle Street façade of the Bank, firstly eastwards and, after the demolition of the church of St Christopher-le-Stocks in 1781, westwards. Taylor introduced top-lighting to the new banking halls which were dominated by his central rotunda. After Taylor came Sir John Soane, one of England's greatest architects. His appointment in 1788 as Architect and Surveyor to the Bank was the most important of his distinguished career and the building became his main preoccupation for 45 years until his retirement in 1833. The banking halls were his most famous contribution – each has a broad side-lit dome resting on arches. He also used hollow-pot vaults for light, fireproof construction – their first employment in an English public building. Besides the usual function of a bank, this labyrinthine fortress also served as barracks, a banknote printing house and (until 1938) as a stock exchange.
Later, five more architects were to update the bank – Professor CR Cockerell (1833 – 1855), PC Hardwick (1855-1883), Sir Arthur Blomfield (1883-1899), AC Blomfield (1899-1919) and Sir Herbert Baker (1925-1939). Baker’s contributions included new, top-lit banking halls which were faithful to Soane’s and the Threadneedle Street front – a vast portico of columns and six giant figures by Sir Charles Wheeler. However, Baker’s input has not always been described kindly; architectural historian Sir Nikolaus Pevsner called it “the worst individual loss suffered by London’s architecture in the 20th century”. And if you thought the bank’s over-ground area was large, there is in fact more space below ground than is contained in Tower 42. The bank is often open to the public for the annual London Open House weekend; the museum is open to visitors all year.