A Rare Look Inside the Gold Vaults Beneath the Bank of England in London

Economics and data editor Ed Conway of Sky News was given incredibly rare access to the famous gold vaults beneath the Bank of England in London. These vaults are the largest in Europe and second largest gold reserve in the world.

It’s the second largest gold reserves in the world, with around 400,000 bars now worth close to £600 billion. The vast majority is held on behalf of the UK Government and central banks from across the globe. That includes Venezuela’s reserves, which has been tied up in a long-running legal battle.

While Conway’s camera team was allowed inside the vaults, they weren’t allowed to film the path they took to get there.

So it’s no phones and no cash because we’ve also got note storage down here. …Can we can we film the security process or do we have to put cameras down? No, I don’t think we’ll have camera. I don’t think they’ll be keen on having cameras. … Well, I can’t tell you how we got here, cuz that is not allowed.

Conway also found an interesting connection between these vaults and the Central Line in the London Underground.

So, the reason I think that the central line has a quite a curve on its platform is it’s coming around our building.

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Lori Dorn
Lori Dorn

Lori is a Laughing Squid Contributing Editor based in New York City who has been writing blog posts for over a decade. She also enjoys making jewelry, playing guitar, taking photos and mixing craft cocktails.