Napkins with silver napkin rings laid out in preparation for a banquet at the bank of England, London. Affectionately known as 'The Old Lady of Threadneedle Street', the Bank of England has been through several incarnations in its three-hundred year history. Now a large and imposing edifice sprawling over four acres of the City, the original bank opened for business in 1694 in the Mercers' Hall later moving on to the Grocers' Hall.