Part of our Best Pubs in London microsite. Is your local listed?
You could quite easily run a crawl of former banking halls turned pubs in London. Round the corner, you'll find the vast The Last Judgement (formerly The Knight's Templar), while in the Square Mile proper you can knock back a pint in the magnificent old Counting House, the Crosse Keys or Hamilton Hall.
The Old Bank of England is the grandest of the lot, and is indeed an old offshoot of that institution, used as an adjunct to the Law Courts until the 1970s. The pub's website used to boast of vaults beneath the pub that once contained bullion, and even the Crown Jewels for a short time. It's now run by McMullen's after a long stint with Fuller's.
Back up to bar level, you'll not find a more opulent ceiling anywhere in pubdom, and the wall paintings reward inspection. The best seats are to be found on the mezzanine level, where you can look down on the punters packing in below.
Since 2021, the pub has boasted the unique feature of a Routemaster bus in its small beer garden. The yard's entrance was too tight for the bus, so it had to be craned in from above. You can now eat and drink on the converted bus, with no extra fare to pay.
Despite its size, this place can get very busy, especially when the ancillary seating areas are closed for private functions.
