Economics

Bank of England Tales: The Ghost, Giant and Heroic Sewer Worker

  • A big man was buried in the garden to ward off grave robbers
  • Enormous building houses world’s second-biggest gold vault

The Bank of England in London.

Photographer: Jason Alden/Bloomberg
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When the Bank of England’s 121st governor takes over from Mark Carney next year, he or she will be reminded that the world’s second-oldest central bank is steeped in history.

From funding wars to a buried giant and a roaming ghost, over its three centuries the institution nicknamed the Old Lady of Threadneedle Street has built up as many stories as there are gold bars in the vault.