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29-736: The Royal Military Chapel , commonly known as the Guards' Chapel , is a British Army place of worship that serves as the religious home of the Household Division at the Wellington Barracks in Westminster , Greater London . Completed in 1838 in the style of a Greek temple and re-designed during the 1870s, the first chapel on the site was damaged by German bombing during the Blitz in 1940 and 1941. On Sunday, 18 June 1944,

58-673: A biannual Financial Stability Report. The bank provides wholesale banking services to the UK Government (and to over a hundred overseas central banks). It manages the UK's Exchange Equalisation Account on behalf of HM Treasury and it maintains the government's Consolidated Fund account. It also manages the country's foreign exchange reserves and is custodian of the UK's (and others') gold reserves . The bank also offers 'liquidity support and other services to banks and other financial institutions'. Commercial banks customarily keep

87-586: A privilege for employees. Previously, the bank had maintained private and commercial accounts for all sorts of customers, including individuals, small businesses and public organisations; but a change of policy following the First World War saw the bank increasingly withdraw from this type of business to focus more clearly on its central banking role. During the Nine Years' War , the Royal Navy

116-469: A sizeable proportion of their cash reserves on deposit at the Bank of England. These central bank reserves are used by the banks to settle payments with one another; (for this reason the Bank of England is sometimes called 'the bankers' bank'). In exceptional circumstances, the Bank may act as the lender of last resort by extending credit when no other institution will. As a regulator and central bank,

145-510: A statutory regulator . The bank's headquarters have been in London's main financial district, the City of London , since 1694, and on Threadneedle Street since 1734. It is sometimes known as "The Old Lady of Threadneedle Street", a name taken from a satirical cartoon by James Gillray in 1797. The road junction outside is known as Bank Junction . The bank, among other things, is custodian to

174-978: A type of quarter guard that is mounted for dignitaries including the Canadian royal family , the governor general of Canada and other heads of state. The phrase household division or household regiment is not used in other Commonwealth countries, although some maintain units that perform similar ceremonial functions, like Australia's Federation Guard and Malaysia's Royal Malay Regiment . Bank of England King Charles III [REDACTED] William, Prince of Wales [REDACTED] Charles III ( King-in-Council ) [REDACTED] Starmer ministry ( L ) Keir Starmer ( L ) Angela Rayner ( L ) ( King-in-Parliament ) [REDACTED] Charles III [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] The Lord Reed The Lord Hodge Andrew Bailey Monetary Policy Committee The Bank of England

203-757: Is commanded by the Major-General commanding the Household Division who is also General Officer Commanding London District . The Household Division was once responsible for mounting the guard to several institutions in London. In 1819, the Household Division maintained ten separate guard mountings for 89 sentry posts. These include the Armoury Guard, the British Museum Guard, the Kensington Palace Guard,

232-413: Is empowered to act in the event of a bank failure 'to protect the UK's vital financial services and financial stability'. Between 1715 and 1998, the Bank of England managed Government Stocks (which formed the bulk of the national debt ): the bank was responsible for issuing stocks to stockholders, paying dividends and maintaining a register of transfers; however in 1998, following the decision to grant

261-760: Is missed the Governor is required to write an open letter to the Chancellor of the Exchequer explaining the situation and proposing remedies. Other than setting the base interest rate, the main tool at the bank's disposal in this regard is quantitative easing . The bank has a monopoly on the issue of banknotes in England and Wales and regulates the issuance of banknotes by commercial banks in Scotland and Northern Ireland. (Scottish and Northern Irish banks retain

290-671: 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 English Government 's banker and debt manager, and still one of the bankers for the Government of the United Kingdom , it is the world's eighth-oldest bank . The bank was privately owned by stockholders from its foundation in 1694 until it was nationalised in 1946 by

319-556: The Attlee ministry . In 1998 it became an independent public organisation, wholly owned by the Treasury Solicitor on behalf of the government, with a mandate to support the economic policies of the government of the day, but independence in maintaining price stability. In the 21st century the bank took on increased responsibility for maintaining and monitoring financial stability in the UK, and it increasingly functions as

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348-922: The King's Guard , the Magazine Guard, the Military Asylum Guard, the Savoy Prison Guard, the Tylt Guards, and the York Hospital Guard. In addition, the Household Division also provided night guards for the Bank of England , Covent Garden Opera House , and Drury Lane . However, the Household Division's commitment to most of these postings, besides the King's Guard, ceased at the end of the 19th century. From 1950 to 1968,

377-414: The bank rate ), which is decided by the bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC). (The MPC has devolved responsibility for managing monetary policy ; HM Treasury has reserve powers to give orders to the committee "if they are required in the public interest and by extreme economic circumstances", but Parliament must endorse such orders within 28 days.) As of 2024 the inflation target is 2%; if this target

406-538: The Bank of England has not offered consumer banking services for many years, but it still does manage some public-facing services (such as exchanging superseded bank notes). Until 2017, Bank staff were entitled to open current accounts directly with the Bank of England and were given the unique sort code of 10-00-00. Under the terms of the Banking Act 2009 the bank is the UK's Resolution Authority for any bank or building society judged ' too big to fail '; as such it

435-626: The Debt Management Office and custodian of its securities . Ever since its foundation in 1694, the bank had provided a retail banking service for the Government; however in 2008 it decided to withdraw from offering these services, which are now provided by a range of other financial institutions and managed by the Government Banking Service . Until 2016, the bank provided personal banking services as

464-621: The English government to borrow the £1.5m that it wanted to use to expand the Royal Navy. In 1691, William Paterson had proposed establishing a national bank as a means of bolstering public finances. As he later wrote in his pamphlet A Brief Account of the Intended Bank of England (1694): "...it was proposed some years ago that a publick transferrable Fund of Interest should be established by Parliament, and made convenient for

493-515: The Garter banner of Field marshal Harold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis was transferred from St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle , to the Guards' Chapel following his death in 1969. The Flanders Fields Memorial Garden , dedicated to the memory of Guardsmen lost in the First World War , was opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 2014 and occupies land next to the chapel. In the 1970s an organ

522-688: The Household Division was known as the Household Brigade . Several Canadian units are known as household regiments or household troops , given their relationship with the Canadian monarchy . This includes the Governor General's Horse Guards , Governor General's Foot Guards , and the Canadian Grenadier Guards . The term household guard is used by the Canadian Armed Forces to describe

551-407: The UK's savers, investors and borrowers against threats to the financial system as a whole. Threats are detected by the bank's surveillance and market intelligence functions, and dealt with through financial and other operations (both at home and abroad). The majority of these safeguards were put in place in after the 2007–2008 financial crisis : In 2011 the bank's Prudential Regulation Authority

580-448: The bank operational independence, responsibility for government debt management was transferred to a new Debt Management Office , which also took over Exchequer cash management and responsibility for issuing Treasury bills from the bank in 2000. Computershare took over as the registrar for UK Government bonds ( gilt-edged securities or 'gilts') from the bank at the end of 2004. The bank, however, continues to act as settlement agent for

609-490: The chapel commissioned a new organ from Harrison and Harrison . On the last Tuesday of each month, except in August, the chapel hosts a free 45-minute lunchtime concert featuring a wide variety of music. 51°30′01″N 0°08′08″W  /  51.5003°N 0.1356°W  / 51.5003; -0.1356 Household Division In the United Kingdom , the Household Division consists of seven regiments, giving rise to

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638-429: The chapel was hit again, this time by a V-1 flying bomb , during the morning service. The explosion of the bomb collapsed the concrete roof onto the congregation, which left 121 people killed and 141 injured (both military and civilian). Using the memorials from the old chapel as foundations, a new chapel was built in a Modernist style in 1963. In 1970 the building was made a Grade II* listed building . The Order of

667-721: The division's motto of Septem juncta in uno ( Latin for 'seven joined in one'). The Household Division is made up of the Household Cavalry , which includes The Life Guards and The Blues and Royals , as well as five regiments of foot guards – the Grenadier Guards , Coldstream Guards , Scots Guards , Irish Guards and Welsh Guards . The Household Division also includes the following incremental companies : Nijmegen Company – Grenadier Guards, No 7 Company – Coldstream Guards, F Company – Scots Guards, Numbers 9 and 12 Company – Irish Guards. The Household Division

696-408: The official gold reserves of the United Kingdom (and those of around 30 other countries). As of April 2016 , the bank held around 5,134 tonnes (5,659 tons) of gold, worth £141 billion. These estimates suggest that the vault could hold as much as 3% of the 171,300 tonnes of gold mined throughout human history. According to its strapline , the bank's core purpose is 'promoting the good of

725-412: The people of the United Kingdom by maintaining monetary and financial stability'. This is achieved in a variety of ways: Stable prices and secure forms of payment are the two main criteria for monetary stability. Stable prices are maintained by seeking to ensure that price increases meet the Government's inflation target. The bank aims to meet this target by adjusting the base interest rate (known as

754-507: The right to issue their own banknotes, but they must be backed one-for-one with deposits at the bank, excepting a few million pounds representing the value of notes they had in circulation in 1845.) In addition the bank supervises other payment systems , acting as a settlement agent and operating Real-time gross settlement systems including CHAPS . In 2024 the bank was settling around £500 billion worth of payments between banks each day. Maintaining financial stability involves protecting

783-542: Was defeated by the French Navy in the 1690 Battle of Beachy Head , causing consternation in the government of William III of England . The English government decided to rebuild the Royal Navy into a force that was capable of challenging the French on equal terms; however, their ability to do so was hampered both by a lack of available public funds and the government's low credit. This lack of credit made it impossible for

812-536: Was established to regulate and supervise all major banks, building societies, credit unions, insurers and investment firms in the UK (' microprudential regulation '). The bank also has a statutory supervisory role in relation to financial market infrastructures. At the same time, the bank's Financial Policy Committee (FPC) was set up to identify and monitor risks in the financial system , and to take appropriate action where necessary (' macroprudential regulation '). The FPC publishes its findings (and actions taken) in

841-455: Was installed by the firm of Hill, Norman and Beard using material from an instrument at Glyndebourne as well as new pipework. In addition to leading congregational singing, the organ accompanies the Chapel’s professional choir and works alongside military bands/ensembles. With the passing of time, it was decided that the organ was struggling to meet the demands placed on it, and in the 21st century

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