The Bank Underground Christmas Quiz 2025 – Bank Underground
Dec 19, 2025
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The Bank Underground Christmas Quiz 2025 – Bank Underground
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Bank Underground is about to take a break for the festive season. In keeping with tradition, we are pleased to present the annual Bank Underground Christmas Quiz! This year, it’s been prepared with the kind assistance of the Bank of England’s Archive team. We hope you enjoy testing your knowledge of the Bank’s history, especially how it has marked Christmas in years past. We wish our readers a very happy festive season!
1) When was the Bank of England Archive established?
1929.
Correct. The Bank of England was founded in 1694, and many of the records are much older than the establishment of the Archive around a century ago. Anyone can visit the Archive (by appointment) for research purposes or consult its catalogue online Bank of England Archive.
Source: Bank of England.
2) What is the date of the oldest record held by the Bank’s Archive?
1516.
Correct. These oldest records relate to the Bank’s Threadneedle Street site and the surrounding area. The Bank’s London office is still based on Threadneedle Street, albeit the office has been through many iterations over the past 330 years. You can find out more about the latest incarnation of the Bank of England building in the current exhibition at the Bank of England museum, Building the Bank – 100 years on.
Archive picture: E56/971.
Source: Bank of England.
3) How many records does the Bank’s Archive hold?
121,000.
Correct. Among other things, the Archive contains minutes of the Bank’s governing committees, staff records, customer account and stock ledgers, architectural plans and drawings of the original building, correspondence from regional branches on developments in local trade and industry, and the Bank’s photographic collection.
Source: Bank of England.
4) If all of the records in the Archive were laid side-by-side, what distance would they stretch?
4.0 km.
Correct. That means our shelves would stretch all the way from the Bank of England’s Threadneedle Street building to Buckingham Palace.
Source: Bank of England.
5) Former Governor Montagu Norman gave the porters at Victoria Station what at Christmas?
Cheese.
Correct. Montagu Norman was Governor from 1920 until 1944, by far the longest period served by anyone in this post. He was instrumental in developing central bank co-operation and travelled over 243,000 miles in pursuit of this aim, Bitesize: The travels of Montagu Norman.
Archive picture: G15/645.
Source: Bank of England.
6) What is the date of the Bank’s first official Christmas card?
1925.
Correct. One hundred years on, the Bank still makes Christmas cards available for its staff to use, though they are now mainly e-cards.
Source: Bank of England.
7) What did this first Christmas card depict?
A Christmas tree.
Incorrect
Garden Court in the Bank.
Correct.
Archive picture: 22A31/1.
Source: Bank of England.
Threadneedle Street façade.
Incorrect
8) When was the first Bank Christmas Carol Service held?
1953.
Correct. The service was held at the Guild Church of St Mary Woolnoth, Lombard Street, not far from the Bank.
Source: Bank of England.
9) From the 1950s to the 1990s the Governor gave a speech at which Christmas lunch?
British Bankers’ Association.
Incorrect
Corporation of London.
Incorrect
London Stock Exchange.
Correct. The London Stock Exchange was established in 1801 and, as a key part of the financial infrastructure of the City of London, has always had a close relationship with the Bank.
Source: Bank of England.
Bank of England Sports Club.
Incorrect
10) Which one of the following has not been a surname of former employee of the Bank?
Gabriel.
Correct. William Abbot Angel was a clerk in the 1920s; William Christmas worked in the ‘Consols Office’ in the 1840s (consols, short for Consolidated Annuities, were a type of government stock); Edward De Montjoie Rudolf worked at the Bank between 1936 and 1971, holding various posts, including Auditor.
Archive picture: F9/15.
Source: Bank of England.
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Comments will only appear once approved by a moderator, and are only published where a full name is supplied. Bank Underground is a blog for Bank of England staff to share views that challenge – or support – prevailing policy orthodoxies. The views expressed here are those of the authors, and are not necessarily those of the Bank of England, or its policy committees.
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