Bank of England Museum facts for kids
 |
|
| Lua error in Module:Location_map at line 420: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). | |
| Established | 1988 |
|---|---|
| Location | City of London, London, EC2R United Kingdom |
| Type | Bank of England Museum |
| Public transit access |   Bank |
The Bank of England Museum is a really cool place to visit! It's located right inside the famous Bank of England in the City of London. This museum has a huge collection of items. These items tell the story of the Bank and the UK's economy. You can learn about everything from when the Bank started in 1694 all the way to today. The best part? It's free to visit!
Contents
History of the Museum
At first, you could only see the Bank's collection by making an appointment. Visitors were guided through the Bank to a small display area. In the 1980s, the Bank decided to open its collection to more people. They wanted to make the Bank of England more accessible to everyone.
The museum was planned to open in 1994. This year was special because it was the Bank's 300th birthday! However, a fire happened in 1986. It badly damaged the area where the museum was going to be. So, they decided to start building the museum right away. This was instead of waiting to repair the damage later.
The museum was designed by experts called Higgins Gardner & Partners. It took about 18 months to build. The new museum officially opened in 1988. Queen Elizabeth II herself opened it!
Cool Features of the New Museum
When the museum opened, it had some amazing things to see:
- A recreated 18th-century Stock Office. This was designed by a famous architect named Sir John Soane.
- The Rotunda area was updated. It had a central display of gold. Twelve statues, called caryatids, stood around it. They looked like guardians of the gold!
The museum won awards in the same year it opened. It received the City Heritage Award and the Stone Federation Award. These awards were for its excellent design and craftsmanship.
Temporary Exhibitions
Besides its regular displays, the museum also has special temporary exhibitions. These change from time to time. This means there's always something new to see!
Currently, you can explore a digital exhibition about the new £50 banknote. This banknote features the brilliant scientist Alan Turing.
Some recent temporary exhibitions have included:
- Feliks Topolski: Drawing Debden (2018)
- 325 Years, 325 Objects (2019)
Permanent Displays
The Bank of England Museum is quite large, covering about 10,000 square feet. It shows off a wide range of items. These items tell the full story of the Bank of England. You can learn about its history from 1694 right up to today.
Hold a Gold Bar!
One of the most exciting things you can do is hold a real bar of gold! This gold bar is almost completely pure gold (99.79% pure). You can touch it through a special clear box. The museum updates the value of this gold bar every day. You can see how much it's worth right next to it!
Other permanent displays include:
- A Banknote Gallery, showing different banknotes.
- The history of the Bank's amazing architecture.
- A Modern Economy display, explaining how our economy works today.
-
Liftable gold bar on display
-
Close-up of the gold bar, showing the hole through which visitors can hold it
Museum Collections
The museum's collection has over 40,000 items! These include old archaeological finds, banknotes, and coins. There are also oil paintings, sculptures, antique furniture, and decorative art. Plus, there are items that tell stories about social history.
Banknotes and More
A big part of the collection focuses on the Bank of England's role in creating banknotes. About 30,000 items are related to banknotes. Around 10,000 of these are banknotes themselves!
Items in the banknote collection include:
- Examples of every banknote the Bank has ever made.
- The plates used for printing money.
- Different materials used to make notes.
- Examples of fake or counterfeit banknotes.
The museum also has many political cartoons. These cartoons show how people viewed the Bank throughout history. There are also many beautiful oil paintings to see.
