Bank of England

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The Colonial Office in the Bank of England, unsigned watercolour by one of Sir John Soane’s draftsmen, c. 1818; in Sir John Soane’s Museum, London.

Courtesy of the trustees of Sir John Soane's Museum, London; photograph, R.B. Fleming

Bank of England, the central bank of the United Kingdom. Its headquarters are in the central financial district of the City of London.

The Bank of England was incorporated by act of Parliament in 1694 with the immediate purpose of raising funds to allow the English government to wage war against France in the Low Countries (see Grand Alliance, War of the). A royal charter allowed the bank to operate as a joint-stock bank with limited liability. No other joint-stock banks were permitted in England and Wales until 1826. This special status and its position as the government’s banker gave the bank considerable competitive advantages.

The bank was located first in Mercers’ Hall and then in Grocers’ Hall, but it was moved to its permanent location on Threadneedle Street in the 1730s. By that time it had become the largest and most prestigious financial institution in England, and its banknotes were widely circulated. As a result, it became banker to other banks, which, by maintaining balances with the Bank of England, could settle debts among themselves. The bank was threatened by the economic instability that accompanied the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars, but its standing was also considerably enhanced by its actions in raising funds for Britain’s involvement in those conflicts.

During the 19th century the bank gradually assumed the responsibilities of a central bank. In 1833 it began to print legal tender, and it undertook the roles of lender of last resort and guardian of the nation’s gold reserves in the following few decades.

The bank was privately owned until 1946, when it was nationalized. It funds public borrowing, issues bank notes, and manages the country’s gold and foreign-exchange reserves. It is an important adviser to the government on monetary policy and is largely responsible for implementing the chosen policy by its dealings in the money, bond, and foreign-exchange markets. The bank’s freedom of action in this regard was considerably enhanced when it was given the power to determine short-term interest rates in 1997. The Bank of England is a member of the European Central Bank and part of its General Council.