The Bank of England Museum
Tucked away just off Bartholomew Lane in the City is one of London’s oddest museums – the Bank of England museum.
It’s got all kinds of intriguing things. A wonderful Heath-Robinson-like sovereign weighing machine for instance – which both speeded up the process of weighing the gold coins, and greatly improved accuracy. I looked at it for a good five minutes but I still couldn’t figure out quite how it worked.
Then there’s a “Be a foreign exchange trader” computer game you can play. I made a million very quickly – then lost two.
Another display shows all the different security features incorporated in the new Euro notes. Not just the thin strip of metal and watermarks, but also holograms. One to appeal to the slightly nerdy side of everybody’s nature – you can then bore your friends by pointing out all the security features on their ten pound notes in the pub (before using their tenner to pay for a round of drinks!)
There’s even a gold bar you can pick up to see how heavy it is. I don’t think you’d be able to pinch it though – it’s housed in a perspex box and there’s a camera pointing right at you. A pity; I can’t give up the day job yet after all! And in case you’re interested in seeing what a million pounds looks like, there are two tubes filled with safely granulated notes worth exactly that amount; it’s not a lot of paper!
Now you might not think this sounds like a museum for the architecture buff, but in fact there’s a real delight here for you if you like neoclassical buildings, because John Soane’s fine Bank Stock Office of 1793 has been re-erected as part of the museum. Typical of Soane’s style is the clever indirect lighting and spacious feel of the room. Sir Herbert Baker’s Rotunda of the 1930s forms another part of the museum and again takes its cue from the classical style – reusing the elegant caryatids from Soane’s demolished earlier building.
Probably not one for the kids? Think again – regular events make this museum child friendly; face painting, minting of medieval coins, and Christmas Carols with a free mince pie, are all on the schedule this year.
The Bank of England Museum is open Monday to Friday 10-5. Bartholomew Lane is just off Threadneedle Street – Bank station is the nearest Tube.
1 Comment
i like this article. i’ve been in london for 4 years now, passed bank station for days and days for 2 years and never heard of this museum. thanks. it is really interesting to find out about a museum about money !