Threadneedle Street is a street in the
City of London
The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...
, England, between
Bishopsgate at its northeast end and
Bank junction in the southwest. It is one of nine streets that converge at Bank. It lies in the ward of
Cornhill.
History
Threadneedle Street is famous as the site of the
Bank of England
The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the Kingdom of England, English Government's banker and debt manager, and still one ...
. The bank itself is sometimes known as 'the Old Lady of Threadneedle Street' and has been based at its current location since 1734. The
London Stock Exchange
The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange based in London, England. the total market value of all companies trading on the LSE stood at US$3.42 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Paul's Cath ...
was situated on Threadneedle Street until 2004, when it relocated to nearby
Paternoster Square. The
Baltic Exchange was founded in the on Threadneedle Street in 1744. It is now located on
St Mary Axe.
Etymology
Some believe that the name originated as Three Needle Street, first attested to in 1598, perhaps from a signboard portraying three needles, or from the three needles on the arms of needle-makers who had premises on the street. The threads and needles used by the members of the
Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors is another possibility, since
the livery company's hall has been located on Threadneedle Street since 1347. Before 1598, the road was part of Broad Street, now Old Broad Street.
Points of interest
In addition to the Bank of England, there are a number of shops, banks, restaurants and offices located on Threadneedle Street.
The
Merchant Taylors' Hall, home of the
Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors, has occupied a site off Threadneedle Street since 1347. Reportedly the
British national anthem was sung, in private, in 1607 for the first time, conducted by
John Bull.
The headquarters of the
South Sea Company was located on the street, from 1711 to the 1850s.
The London office of the world's oldest merchant bank,
Berenberg Bank
Joh. Berenberg, Gossler & Co. Kommanditgesellschaft, KG, commonly known as Berenberg Bank and also branded as simply Berenberg, is a Multinational corporation, multinational full-service private bank, private and merchant bank headquartered in H ...
, is located at No. 60.
The nearest
London Underground
The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or as the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England.
The Undergro ...
station is
Bank and Monument. London's first bus service ran between Threadneedle Street and
Paddington
Paddington is an area in the City of Westminster, in central London, England. A medieval parish then a metropolitan borough of the County of London, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Paddington station, designed b ...
from 1829. Today, the street is served by bus routes
8,
11,
23,
26,
133, 242, and 388.
Over 5,000 tonnes of gold bars are held by the Bank of England, both official reserves of the UK Treasury, and others, in a system of eight vaults, over two floors, under Threadneedle Street.
References
;General
''Threadneedle Street'', Old and New London: Volume 1 (1878), pp. 531-544
External links
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{{London landmarks
Streets in the City of London