A bit of banking history

Not the most attractive building in Tonbridge but what caught my eye was the faded name of the London and County Bank. Lots of bank buildings have been taken over by bars, restaurants and shops with traces of the former long standing occupant being lost. I am pleased the solicitors now occupying this building have left the name as a little window into banking history.

The original bank was established in Southwark in 1836 as Surrey, Kent & Sussex Banking Co. Branches were almost immediately opened at Brighton, Canterbury, Croydon, Lewes, Maidstone, Sevenoaks, Tonbridge, Tunbridge Wells and Woolwich. In 1839 it was renamed the London & County Banking Co. In 1909 it merged with London & Westminster Bank. In 1968 it merged with National Provincial Bank and became NatWest; which, as Robin reminds me below, is now part of RBS. Robin lives in Scotland and would not miss this important fact.