Inside the century-old building standing above 400,000 gold bars

"Across the floor and walls sprawl grand mosaics and sculptures depicting lions, piles of gold, thunderbolts and ancient Roman gods. "When this building was created, it was designed as a working bank building. There were people coming and going all day," explains the Bank of England Museum's curator, Jenni Adam. "And immediately they were greeted with this sense of grandeur along with lots and lots of messages about what's happening in this site.""

"To mark this centenary a new exhibition has begun in the bank's museum revealing more about what can be found inside one of Britain's most secure buildings. Ahead of its opening the BBC was given a rare look inside the bank itself, where some of the country's key financial decisions are made and which houses some 400,000 bars of gold in its basement vaults."

"The bank was first granted a Royal Charter in 1694 when it was "founded for the use and benefit of the public as a way to manage the national debt and maintain stable finances in Britain", says Ms Adam. It proved to be a huge success and by 1734 had moved to its current position in Threadneedle Street, with the premises becoming grander and slowly swallowing up surrounding land to cover a three-and-a-half acre (14,000 sq m) site within a windowless wall."

The Bank of England occupies a grand, columned building with ornate mosaics and sculptures depicting lions, gold, thunderbolts and Roman gods. The interior was designed to convey grandeur and communicate the bank's functions to staff and visitors. Work to rebuild the Bank began a century ago after the original townhouse expanded across the Threadneedle Street site. The bank received a Royal Charter in 1694 to manage national debt and maintain financial stability. The site contains a museum with a new centenary exhibition and basement vaults holding roughly 400,000 bars of gold. Renowned architects, including Sir John Soane, contributed to its evolving architecture.

Read at www.bbc.com