to a scale

The Bank of England, Inspectors office over the / discount office, A. Staircase lead^g to the Inspectors Office / & the Rooms over the present disc[ount] / office_ formerly M^r Newland's / Room _ this staircase also / leads to the deposit vault / &c, and plan labelled (different hands, some in red pen): Pay Hall, Drawing / office / in the pay[?ment] / Department, 5£ notes & upwards, 30 by 24, 30 by 60, Court, 55 feet by 20 feet / One & Two Pound Notes, 18 by 34 / Cash book / office / 18 Clerks, Drawing / office / 18 by 30 / Acc^t Dep / 17 Clerks, 18 by 10 / Acc^t divid / 3 clerks, Storekeeper, Clearer, A, Discount Office / 24 by 40, Strong / Clos[et] (twice), 16 by 24 / G. Cash / book, Chancery / Office / 5 Clerks / 16 by 17, One & Two / Pound / Notes / 20 by 38, Journal & Ledger / Mr Berger & Mr S--- (llegible), Committee in / Waiting, Waiting Room, Waiting / room, Waiting / room, Cashiers Office, Income / & / Land Tax, M^r New[lands] / Room, Secretary, Lobby, Court Room, Commitee, Parlor, Coffee / room, Court, Wait^g / Room, Governor, Dep[uty] Gov[ernor], Parlor / door / keeper, Clerk / of / Commitee, Waiting / Room (twice) and feint pencil notes, including *Acct Disc[oun]t Gr--- (Griffin?), Storekeeper, Bullion Court

• February 17 1805

Soane and Soane office

J Whatman 1801

This drawing and SM 9/4/39 show a design for re-arranging the offices in the new extension and the south-west wing. The drawings show the first phase of the north-west extension as built but with the rooms allocated to different uses. Robert Taylor's Court and Committee Rooms (1780-88) are shown as offices for higher bank notes and the Accountant's Office (known later as the £5 Note Office) is converted to a Committee Room. The existing directors' offices and waiting rooms are rebuilt to form one long corridor extending west from the Bullion Court. The re-arrangement of the Bank as shown moves the directors' offices (which includes the Governor's Room, the Deputy Governor's Room, the Court and Committee Rooms and the waiting rooms) to the more secluded north-west wing while gathering the more public clerks' offices (including the Drawing Office, the Discount Office, the Chancery Office and the bank note offices) closer to the Bank's main entrance.

In mid-March 1805, the Building Committee approved Soane's plan for relocating the Court Room and directors' offices, as shown in SM 9/2/11 and SM 9/2/14; but two weeks later they requested an alternative plan. In April, five more directors were added to the Committee to assist in considerations for the ambitious new proposal and on 9 April 1805 the Committee came to a resolution. They agreed to alter the existing directors' offices while preserving the Court and Committee Rooms. The building works were carried out from 1807 to 1808 (see the Directors’ parlours scheme).

The inscription on this drawing suggests including a stair beside the Court Room, leading to the deposit vaults below and the Inspector's Office overhead. This stair was requested by the directors on June 12th 1806.

D. Abramson, Building the Bank of England, 2005, p.162

Drawing

Digitisation of the Drawings Collection has been made possible through the generosity of the Leon Levy Foundation

If you have any further information about this object, please contact us: drawings@soane.org.uk