The Bank of England is so central to London’s identity, it even has an underground station named after it. Founded in 1694 as the government’s banker and debt-manager, the “Old Lady of Threadneedle Street” has since then stood at the centre of the British financial system. It was nationalised in 1946, but once again gained independence from overt government control in 1997. It is now charged with maintaining monetary stability through the setting of interest rates. Most of its work still goes on inside the historic building itself, which, emerging from Bank tube station, is difficult to miss.