Bank of England is a Grade I listed building in the City of London local planning authority area, England. First listed on 4 January 1950. A Late C18 to early C19 (Soane elements); 1921–1937 rebuilding (Sir Herbert Baker) Bank. 32 related planning applications.

Bank of England

WRENN ID
ghost-niche-barley
Grade
I
Local Planning Authority
City of London
Constituency
Cities of London and Westminster MP: Rachel Blake (Lab)
Country
England
Date first listed
4 January 1950
Type
Bank
Period
Late C18 to early C19 (Soane elements); 1921–1937 rebuilding (Sir Herbert Baker)
Address
Bank of England, Threadneedle Street Ec2, City and County of the City of London, EC2R 8AH
OS grid reference
TQ 327 812
Coordinates
51.51424, -0.08856
Source
Historic England listing

Also on this page: EPC · related consents · flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

The Bank of England, located on Threadneedle Street, is a Grade I listed building that was largely rebuilt by Sir Herbert Baker in 1921. The listing recognizes the greatly altered screen wall designed by Sir John Soane in the late 18th to early 19th century, as well as various elements of the older building by Soane and Sir Robert Taylor from the second half of the 18th century, which were restored to resemble their original form within the new structure.

The screen wall is made of channelled Portland stone and features a Corinthian column order with pilasters and a crowning balustrade. The main entrance on Threadneedle Street has an eight-columned portico with round-arched openings, and there is a similar colonnade on Bartholomew Lane. The building has elaborated, rounded corners, particularly the northwest corner, which has a footway cut through it. A modern statue of Soane faces Lothbury.

Inside the gateway from Lothbury is a reconstruction of Soane's Lothbury Courtyard, originally built between 1798 and 1799, featuring Corinthian colonnades and sculptures, although it is now covered by a temporary glass roof. The most significant reconstructed interior is Taylor's Court Room, which has an arcade at either end that screens a vaulted lobby. This room boasts splendid plaster decoration (altered by Baker) and three chimney pieces made of Sienna and white marble, along with a clock framed in elaborate gilt bronze.

The adjoining octagonal Committee Room retains its original ceiling design, a marble chimney piece, and four built-in bookcases. Other interiors that have been partially copied in the new work include the former Consols Office, Colonial Office, Dividend Office, Prince's Street Vestibule, the lobby to the Rotunda (all by Soane), and the semi-dome in the vestibule on Bartholomew Lane by Taylor. Notable fixtures include a marble statue of William III by Cheere in the Prince's Street entrance hall and two patterned Roman mosaic pavements from the 2nd or 3rd century, located at the foot of the principal staircase and in what is now the museum.

Local climate

Bank of England sits in one of the driest parts of the UK, with an average of 690 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 95% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 98% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 35 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 57% of listed buildings. Of these, 16 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.

Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.

More on this building

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  • Related listed building consents — 32 applications
  • Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
  • Flood risk assessment
  • Radon risk assessment
  • Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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