Photo: londondrum.comUseful things to know before your visit
Address: Bank of England Museum, Bartholomew Lane, The City EC2R 8AH. Telephone: 0203 461 5545. Website: bankofengland.co.uk
How much do the tickets cost?
The Bank of England Museum is free, but temporary exhibitions might cost extra.
What are the opening hours?
Opening times are 10am to 5pm (Mon-Fri); 10am to 8pm (every 3rd Thu of month). Last entry is 30 minutes before closing time.
How much time do you need?
A typical visit to the Bank of England Museum takes 1 hour.
Which buses go to the Bank of England Museum?
Bus routes 8, 11, 21, 23, 25, 26, 43, 76, 133, 141, 242 and 388 all stop close by.
Which is the closest train station?
The nearest station is Bank, which connects with the Central DLR Northern and Waterloo & City lines. It only takes two minutes to walk to the Bank of England Museum.
Which other attractions are nearby?
These attractions are all within 15 minutes walk of the Bank of England Museum: Mansion House, Royal Exchange, Guildhall Art Gallery, Guildhall, London Mithraeum, Leadenhall Market, Horizon 22, One New Change, Sky Garden, The Monument, St. Paul’s Cathedral, Postman’s Park, Billingsgate Roman House & Baths and All Hallows-by-the-Tower.
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Email My review of the Bank of England Museum
I don’t suppose many tourists consider visiting this museum, but I’ve always had a soft spot for this place. It sounds a bit boring on paper (a museum about money?) but if you’re prepared to give it a go then it’s a decent way to wile away an hour.
But first of all you have to get past the serious-looking security guards who make you empty out your pockets into a tin tray so in goes my clattering coins and keys, tissues and train ticket, mobile phone, polo mints and one of those old pandemic face masks I forgot was in there. Once you’ve got the nod from their beeping machines you can start learning about the Bank’s beginnings.
Photo: londondrum.comApparently we’ve got the French to thank for the Bank of England because shortly after they beat us at the Battle of Beachy Head, William III discovered that he couldn’t afford to repair his battered boats. His solution was to hand over all of the government’s money to a newly created bank and promptly borrowed a million pounds from it. With the government’s money backing it up the bank grew into a behemoth and ended up funding all of our empire adventures for the next 250 years.
Portraits, Paintings, Banknotes & Cheques
The walls are full of portraits and old oil paintings that were originally hanging in the foyers and boardrooms of the Bank of England’s various buildings (you can see another of their Roman-esque mosaics at One New Change).
They’ve got display cases filled with old cheques and chests, carved wooden lock boxes, beautiful old charters, and calligraphic bank notes that are almost too beautiful to spend.
Photo: londondrum.comThey’ve got some interesting little exhibits about historical customers as well, like Admiral Nelson’s Powers of Attorney which were signed once with his righthand, and again with his left after he lost his arm fighting the French. There’s also a board about how George Washington remained a shareholder all the way through the American War of Independence. (It’s a good job they didn’t have social media in the 1770s because imagine the backlash if that had leaked out – this was the bank that was funding Britain’s war effort!)
Counterfeit and forged bank notes
After that comes a little section on all the sneaky security features they add to banknotes to stop you copying them – raised lettering, micro lettering, watermarks, foil strips, transparent patches and even some invisible images that only show up in UV light.
Photo: londondrum.comTry and pick up a real gold bar
If you drag a little kid along then this is probably the only exhibit that they’ll actually be interested in: trying to lift up a genuine gold bar (99.79% pure gold). They’ve got it locked up inside a bullet-proof box so you can feed your hand through a hole in the front and touch it.
If you’re going to try and lift it then remember to bend your knees first because this thing will give you a hernia. Obviously I managed it easy-peasy, but I don’t know how all those weedy bank robbers manage it in the movies. You always see them chucking a couple of gold bars into a bucket and then carting them off to a waiting van out the back, but trust me – if they threw this bar into a bucket then it would go straight through the bucket, straight through the floor, and end up buried in the foundations.
British coins and bank notes
Photo: londondrum.comThe final section is like a Who’s Who of British coins. You can have a walk down memory lane past the old gold sovereigns, guineas and groats, shillings and sixpences from your youth. I can just about remember the halfpennies from the 1980s, but only because that was half a week’s wages at Sainsbury’s.
Museums like this are never going to appeal to everyone, and I’m pretty sure that the majority of tourists will be bored silly by it. But if you enjoy your British history (like me), and you enjoy looking at old photos of the city (like me), then I reckon you’ll enjoy it (like me).
There’s a small exhibition about money at the Jewel Tower. You can see some more old photos of the City at the London Museum
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What do you think? (6)
Ask a question, or share your experience of the Bank of England Museum
CWarms How near is Cannon Street station to the museum? (reply)
Craig Hi CWarms. It’s not very far at all. You can probably walk it in 5 mins. (reply)
Sarah I got dragged along to this by my financier boyfriend (the things you do for love!) and I thought I was going to have to feign interest in my loved ones interest, but I actually ended up enjoying it. I got to pick up a gold bar and naturally I entertained thoughts of running away with it. It was also nice and empty and we practically had the museum to ourselves. Now he has no excuse when I drag him along to all the art galleries for my arts history degree! (reply)
Charlie This fascinating museum tells the story of the Grand Old Lady of Threadneedle Street and the exhibits cover lots of different subjects, not just about money, about how they defended the bank, how they combat forgeries, and how the author of ‘The Wind in the Willows’ Kenneth Grahame dreamed up his story whilst working at the bank. (reply)
Natalie Can you go inside the Bank of England itself? (reply)
Craig Hi Natalie. The museum is completely separate from the bank, with it’s own door round the side, but you can sometimes tour the Bank of England when Open House Weekend comes round. They usually do half-hour tours for a couple of days in the autumn – openhouselondon.open-city.org.uk (reply)
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