Record

Code	DS/UK/83
Corporate Name	Bank of England Western Branch
Dates	1855 - 1930
Activity	Following the establishment of a 'Western Branch' by the London & Westminster Bank in Waterloo Place to serve wealthy west-end customers, the Directors of the Bank of England decided to increase their own facilities in the area. In December 1840, the Committee of Treasury recommended that 'a Branch Bank of Deposit' should be established 'at the west end of town'. This was not acted upon and, in 1855, the Committee made a similar recommendation resulting in the purchase of Uxbridge House in Burlington Street for conversion to a Branch Bank. Uxbridge House had been erected in 1792 by John Vardy for the first Earl of Uxbridge. The necessary alterations were carried out by the Bank Architect, Philip Hardwick and the branch opened under the management of Charles Tindall. In 1875 extensive alterations were carried out to allow for the increased work of the branch. The adjoining house at 2 Old Burlington Street was purchased the following year as a residence for the Sub-Agent because the existing rooms were to be adapted into office space. The branch operated mainly as an ordinary banking house with few government accounts. The Bank's withdrawal from commercial activities led to the transfer of the branch, with its private banking business and its building in Burlington Gardens to the Royal Bank of Scotland in 1930.