Summary

A late C18 townhouse with a C19 shop front to the ground floor.

Pursuant to s.1 (5A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 (‘the Act’) it is declared that the portion of the building to the rear of the stairs, and the ground floor within the former carriageway, are not of special architectural or historic interest.

Description

A late C18 townhouse with a C19 shop front to the ground floor.

MATERIALS: the building is constructed from red brick laid in Flemish bond with stone dressings; it has a glazed timber shop front and slate and tiled roofs with a brick chimneystack.

PLAN: the plot is orientated roughly east-to-west on the west side of London Street. The earliest part of the building is the roughly north-south range facing on to the street, which had a carriageway on the north side, now infilled. There is a later perpendicular range to the rear and a late-C20 infill block behind the former carriageway, both excluded from the listing.

There is a single room within each floor of the front range, with a stair to the rear.

EXTERIOR: the building is three stories with a cellar beneath the front range. The ground floor of the principal, east-facing elevation has a shop front on the left, and a former carriageway entrance, now infilled with doors, on the right; a fascia with moulded console brackets runs across the elevation. The shop front has a limestone plinth and a panelled stallriser, and a large window with a single, slender mullion and transom creating four lights. The door, three-quarters glazed, is recessed; the returns are panelled and glazed, and there is a rectangular overlight. The first and second floors each have two windows with flat gauged brick arches and projecting cills. Each window has a six-over-six pane sash, those on the second floor are of a slightly smaller scale. A limestone storey band divides the first and second floors, and there is a moulded cornice to the parapet, behind which the pitched roof is not visible.

At the rear of the building are the Victorian and late-C20 additions, excluded from the listing.

INTERIOR: the principal rooms retain moulded plasterwork, door and window architraves and skirtings. The original sash windows survive, and on the first floor they have panelling beneath the cills. The stair, a dog-leg that rises from the ground to the second floor, has been refurbished with modern newels replicating the form of the originals, and has stick balusters.

History

London Street has medieval origins and is marked ‘London Strete’ on John Speed’s 1611 map of Reading. In the late C18 and C19 it was one of the fashionable parts of the town and many of the houses which lined either side of the unusually wide road survive.

The front range of 94 London Street dates from the Georgian period, probably the late C18, and was built for domestic use. A shop front was inserted on the ground floor in the second half of the C19.

Census records from 1851 show that the premises was in use as a butchers and slaughterhouse. There has been much extension to the rear and it is possible that this was done in connection with this use, though the presence of chimneybreasts suggests not. Historic maps from the late C19 and early C20 show further structures within the rear yard, now demolished.

Substantial alteration, to and refurbishment of, the building occurred in the late C20 and early C21. The stair has been refurbished and includes replacement elements, though this has been carefully undertaken with some original fabric retained. The original carriageway has been infilled on the ground floor, and a three storey extension built behind it.

Reasons for Listing

94 London Street, a C18 house with C19 shop front, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

* Architectural interest: it is a good representation of the form of a late-C18 domestic building, and illustrates the typical development of such buildings towards commerce, retaining a well-composed late-C19 shop front;
* Intactness: the principal façade survives well, including the door, overlight and sash windows. Internally the principal rooms retain moulded plasterwork and joinery;
* Group value: it makes a positive contribution to the street scene which has a range of dates of listed domestic buildings, illustrating the evolution of the building type and the development of the street.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26449880

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

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