http://www.howitworksdaily.com HowIt Works 069
DID YOU KNOW? The walls of the bank are over two-metres thick, with 30-centimetre-long keys to access the vaults
Take a look inside the ground
floor of the most secure
buildinginEnglandWithin
the wallsThecourtroom
ThislargeroomwasbuiltfortheCourtof
Directorstoholdtheirmeetings.These
directorsdeterminethebank’skey
objectivesandbudgets.Governor’srooms
AndrewBaileyis thenewhead
oftheBankofEnglandandone
ofmorethan4,000members
ofstaffin thebuilding.Asa top
bankofficial,it’shisjobto
overseethegoings-oninside
thebankandplaya mainrole
in economicdecisions.Rotunda
Thislarge,open-spaceddomewas
originallybuiltaspartofthebankto
allowa spaceforfinancial
exchanges.Providinga placewithin
thebankforpeopletogather,the
rotundawassurroundedbystock
transferoffices.1
Gold for miles
Gold in the bank’s vault covers
the equivalent area of around ten
football pitches.2
Storing billions
The contents currently held in
the vault is valued at well over
£200 billion.3
Established 1694
The Bank of England is the
world’s eighth-oldest bank.4
Past trespasser?
There is a rumour that in 1836
a sewage worker gained access to
the gold, but the bank claims never
to have been robbed.5
Early days
When the bank first opened its
doors, it was staffed by 17 clerks
and two gatekeepers.THE BANK
OF ENGLANDNoteoffice
Ensuringthecorrectamountofpaper
moneyis in circulation,notesaresorted
andanalysedin a noteoffice.Whennotes
comeoutofcirculationtheyaredestroyed,
removingpartofthenotethatholdsthe
signatureandserialnumber.Eachnumber
is documentedas‘paid’whenit hasbeen
used.Thismethodhasbeenusedsincethe
theBankofEnglandwasfounded.Banknotestorage
TheBankofEnglandhastostorebanknotesthat
cometothesamevalueofallnotesin circulation,asa
securitymeasure.Somenotesstoredforthispurpose
holdincredible
value,muchhigher
thantheonesyou
havestuffedinto
yourwallet.Notes
wortha million
poundsarecalled
‘Giants’whilea
hundredmillion
poundnotesare
knownas‘TitansCommittee
rooms
Therearetwo
committeeswhomeet
in thebank:the
MonetaryPolicy
Committee(MPC)and
theFinancialPolicy
committee(FPC).The
MPCis responsiblefor
managinginflationand
interestrates,while
theFPCtakescareof
themoney’svalue
andsurveillance.Nightwatch
WiththeintroductionofCCTVcameras,
theentireareacanbeviewedatanytime
toanalyseanymovementinside.Thebullionoffice
Inthisareagoldbarsweresorted,
countedandmovedontocartsto
transportthem.Nowallthegold
is keptunderground,andoften
remainsthereevenafterbeing
paidtoothercountries.Thebank
storesthegoldforover 70 other
banksandfor 30 countriesas
wellastheirown.Any
transactionsthattakeplaceare
secretforsafetyreasons.Mouldmaking
To d ay,m o d e r nn ote sa re
madeofpolymerandare
moreresistanttowear
andtear.Oneelementof
note-makinghasbeen
usedforcenturiesand
involvesincorporatingthe
watermarkontothenote.
Thisis donebyusinga
mouldandimproves
securitybydistinguishing
therealnotesfromany
fakes.Banknotesarerun
throughthemould,which
hasbeensewnintothe
desiredpattern.Usually
thisis a portrait.Fibres
usedin themouldgather
in a higherconcentration
wherethemeshis raised
andaremorespacedout
elsewhere.Thisgivesthe
pictureusedasthe
watermarka unique,
three-dimensionaleffect
asit addsshading.‘Titan’ and ‘Giant’
notesareonly
foundinthebank,
notincirculationGoldbeingpulledintothe
BankofEngland’sgoldvaults
in 1872Drawingof
‘paymentof
dividends’in
thebank’s
rotunda
(1841)AndrewBaileywasmade
thenewbankgovernoron
17 March 2020Bank of England court room
from 1790© Alamy © UK Government © Alamy© Alamy© Science Photo Library