Watercolour of the Old Bank of England.
 
Built in 1886 by Sir Arthur Blomfield in Italianate style, 194 Fleet Street housed the Bank’s Law Courts branch until 1975. Its opulent interior boasts chandeliers, plasterwork ceilings, and underground vaults that once stored gold bullion—and legend says the Crown Jewels. Refurbished as a McMullen pub in 1994, it’s Grade II listed and near Sweeney Todd lore.
 
Designed by Sir Arthur Blomfield in 1886, its a grand Italianate style structure with soaring ceilings, intricate plasterwork, marble columns, and three huge chandeliers. The preserved vaults below, once storing gold bullion and rumored to hold the Crown Jewels. Grade II listed since its conversion, it retains original banking counters now used as bar surfaces.
 
Interesting facts...
Sweeney Todd’s barber shop is traditionally placed at 186 Fleet Street, next to St. Dunstan-in-the-West church, while Mrs. Lovett’s pie shop sat in nearby Bell Yard off Carey Street. The pub lies directly between these spots, leading to lore that tunnels beneath it—now gold vaults—served as the route where Todd transported victims’ bodies for Lovett to mince into pies.