1 Lombard Street is steeped in banking history. In fact, the area was considered the Wall Street of its time.
One of the earliest recordings of the Grade II-listed building dates back to 1776 when Smith, Payne & Smith bank was located to the rear of the building in Plough Court.
Charles Dickens first love Maria Beadnell's father was a manager of the bank and the young Dickens would walk to Lombard Street in the early hours just to gaze upon the place where Maria slept.
