Editing Bank of England (section)

====Threadneedle Street====
[[File:The history and survey of London - from its foundation to the present time (1756) (14590189508).jpg|thumb|right|''A Perspective View of the Bank of England'' (published 1756): the bank initially occupied a narrow site behind the front on Threadneedle Street.]]
The Bank of England moved to its current location, on the site of Sir John Houblon's house and garden in Threadneedle Street (close by the church of [[St Christopher le Stocks]]), in 1734.<ref name="Bldgs">{{Cite web |title=Bank of England: Buildings and Architects |url=http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/about/Pages/history/buildings.aspx# |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150910182914/http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/about/Pages/history/buildings.aspx |archive-date=10 September 2015 |access-date=31 July 2015 |publisher=The Bank of England |df=dmy-all}}</ref> (The estate had been purchased ten years earlier; Houblon had died in 1712, but his widow lived on in the house until her death in 1731, after which the house was demolished and work on the bank began.)<ref name="BoE1794-1984" />

The newly built premises, designed by George Sampson, occupied a narrow plot (around {{convert|80|ft}} wide) extending north from Threadneedle Street.<ref name="SoaneMusSampson">{{cite web |title=Presentation drawings for the Bank as designed by George Sampson, 1732 |url=https://collections.soane.org/OBJECT2032 |website=Sir John Soane's Museum, London |access-date=4 January 2024}}</ref> The front building contained [[Stock transfer agent|transfer offices]] on the first floor, beneath which was an entrance arch leading to a courtyard. Facing the entrance was the 'main building' of the bank:<ref name="Maitland1756" /> a [[Banking hall|large Hall]] ({{convert|79x40|ft|abbr=on}}) in which bank notes were issued and exchanged,<ref name="Phillips1805">{{cite book |last1=Phillips |first1=Sir Richard |title=Modern London: Being the History and Present State of the British Metropolis |date=1805 |publisher=Richard Phillips |location=London |pages=296–304}}</ref> and where deposits and withdrawals could be made.<ref name="Kynaston2017" /> (Sampson's Great Hall, later known as the Pay Hall, remained ''in situ'' and in use until [[Herbert Baker]]'s comprehensive rebuilding in the late 1920s.)<ref name="Rebuilding">{{cite web |title=Rebuilding the Bank of England |url=https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/museum/online-collections/archive-gallery/rebuilding-of-the-bank |website=Bank of England Museum |access-date=2 January 2024}}</ref> Beyond the Hall was a quadrangle of buildings enclosing a 'spacious and commodious Court-yard' (later known as Bullion Court). On the south side of the quadrangle were the Court Room and Committee Room, on the north side was a large Accountants' Office; on either side were [[arcaded]] walkways, with rooms for the senior officers, while the upper floors contained offices and apartments.<ref name="SoaneMusSampson" /> Beneath the quadrangle were the vaults ('that have very strong Walls and Iron Gates, for the Preservation of the Cash'); access to the courtyard was provided, by way of a passage leading to a 'grand Gateway' on Bartholomew Lane, for the coaches and waggons 'that come frequently loaded with Gold and Silver Bullion'.<ref name="Maitland1756">{{cite book |last1=Maitland |first1=William |title=The History and Survey of London from its Foundation to the Present Time (volume II) |date=1756 |publisher=T. Osborne and J. Shipton |location=London |pages=846–848 |url=https://archive.org/details/historysurveyofl02mait/page/846/mode/2up? |access-date=2 January 2024}}</ref> The pediment above the entrance to the main Hall was decorated with a carved ''[[alto relievo]]'' figure of [[Britannia]] (who had appeared on the [[Company seal|common seal]] of the bank since 30 July 1694);<ref>{{cite book |title=Britannia and the Bank 1694-1961 |date=1962 |publisher=Bank of England |location=London |page=1 |url=https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/-/media/boe/files/archive/publications/britannia-and-the-bank.pdf |access-date=4 January 2024}}</ref> the sculptor was [[Robert Taylor (architect)|Robert Taylor]], who went on to be appointed Architect, in succession to Sampson, in 1764. Inside, the east end of the Hall was dominated by a large statue by [[John Cheere]] of King William III,<ref>{{cite web |title=William III (1650–1702) (Henry Cheere (1703–1781)) Bank of England Museum |url=https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/william-iii-16501702-256600 |website=Art UK |access-date=21 January 2024}}</ref> lauded in an accompanying Latin inscription as the bank's founder (''conditor'');<ref name="Allen1828" /> at the opposite end, a large [[Venetian window]] looked out on St Christopher's churchyard.