| Code | DS/UK/69 |
| Corporate Name | Bank of England Printing Works |
| Dates | 1803 - 2003 |
| OtherFormsOfName | Printing Office; St Luke's; Debden |
| Activity | The Bank started issuing bank notes (Running Cash Notes) soon after its foundation in 1694. Whilst the supply of paper and the plates were under the control of the Bank’s Chief Cashier, the printing was carried out by a private firm operating from its own premises. It wasn’t until 1791 that printing moved to the Threadneedle Street site, although the operation remained in other respects independent of the Bank until 1803.
As well as bank notes, a considerable and increasing amount of general printing work was done by the Threadneedle Street printers - forms, ledger pages and so on. By the early twentieth century, the printing works had outgrown its space in Threadneedle Street and so in August 1915 the Bank leased new premises in Tabernacle Street to continue production. This proved to be a temporary measure, however, and in October 1915 the Bank learned that the Governors of St Luke's Hospital were prepared to sell and a year later the purchase was completed, whilst the patients were transferred to other institutions.
The 'St Luke's Hospital for Lunatics' was founded in 1751 and was originally located in converted foundry, however it quickly became overcrowded and in 1786 moved to new premises on Old Street. It was ready to open on 1 January 1787*. The new hospital was designed by George Dance Jnr. who incidentally taught Sir John Soane, an architect of the bank.
Bank note printing started at St Luke’s in 1920 after an ambitious conversion process, involving the construction of strong-rooms and reinforcing the structure of the building. The works could only use second-hand machinery as no permits were available from the 'Ministry of Munitions' for the building of new machines. By 1928, the conversion was complete and production of notes continues on this site for nearly forty more years.
Over the next twenty years there was a considerable increase in the size of the note issue and after the Second World War it became increasingly apparent that that the capacity of St Luke's was being overstretched. In the early 1950's the decision was made to develop a new modern site in Debden for the production of bank notes which was over two and half times the size of the St Luke's site. The construction began in 1953 and as early as 1955 the relocation began. In October 1956 the last load of plant left Old Street and the St Luke's Printing Works were resigned from use. The St Luke’s building was demolished in 1963.
The new Debden printing works were designed by Sir Howard Robertson, President of the Royal Institute of British Architects and was built by Sir Robert McAlpine. The works were opened in 1956 as a cost of just under £3.5 million. At this point St Luke's was no longer used for the printing of bank notes. The building was 850 feet long and 130 feet wide and the roof had no pillars or internal supports.
Under the Ashridge re-organisation in 1994, the printing works came under the Financial Stability Wing.
In 1999 the issue and destruction of notes was separated from the printing of notes at Debden and transferred to Banking & Market Services as the Debden Cash Centre (the Southern equivalent of the Leeds Cash Centre). On 31 March 2003, the Bank's note printing operations at Debden were transferred to De La Rue plc.
*Source - George Dance, Architect, 1741-1825 by Dorothy Stroud (p.142) |
| Source | 9A225/1 - Ashridge, 6 December 1993 - 30 June 1994 |
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