Summary

68 London Street, an early-C19 house, probably originally a shop with dwelling above, altered in the C20 and C21.

Description

House, probably originally a shop with dwelling above, early-C19; altered in the C20 and C21.

MATERIALS: the street-facing, east elevation is stuccoed and painted. The rear elevation is red brick. The roof is slated, and there is a stuccoed stack.

PLAN: the house is a narrow rectangle on plan, oriented east/west, with the principal elevation facing east to London Street.

EXTERIOR: the east elevation is two windows wide, arranged over four storeys with basement. The C21 ground floor is of banded stone, with the doorway to the south, and two square windows set at a high level above the basement windows. The upper storeys are separated by string courses. The large first-floor window openings have moulded architraves, and contain six-over-six sash frames; the smaller second-floor windows have three-over-six sash frames, and the square attic windows have three-over-three frames. There is a cornice with a moulded blocking course, below a shallow pediment.

History

The first written record of Reading dates from the ninth century when the name seems to have referred to a tribe, called Reada’s people. It is possible that there was a river port here during the Roman occupation, and by 1086 Reading had grown into a town, recorded in the Domesday Book. The early Anglo-Saxon settlement is believed to have been located in the Castle Street and St Mary’s area, which has St Mary’s Minster at its heart.

After Reading Abbey was founded in 1121, the town grew substantially as a place of pilgrimage as well as an important ecclesiastical and trading centre, with cloth production as the principal industry. Reading’s increasing prosperity saw the establishment of the new Market Place (drawing trade away from the old marketplace at St Mary’s Butts), and of what is today known as London Street, an extension to the High Street, which facilitated trade to and from London. By 1525, Reading had become the largest town in Berkshire. Following its dissolution in 1539, Reading Abbey became a royal palace. The cloth and leather trades continued to flourish and by 1611 the town’s population had grown to over 5,000. John Speed’s map shows that by that year, both sides of London Street had been developed with continuous frontages for a considerable distance southward, beyond the modern junction with Crown Street/London Road. Several buildings which predate Speed’s map survive on London Street, some concealed behind later brick façades.

Following significant upheaval during the Civil War, the town flourished during the C18 and C19. Several developments during this period spurred further growth and prosperity, including the arrival of the Great Western Railway, improvements to the navigability of the River Kennet, and the expansion of the local brewing industry. The survival of many fine Georgian and Victorian buildings along London Street testifies to its prosperity during this period.

68 London Street was constructed in the early C19, probably as a shop with a residence above. In 1895 the shop sold pictures; at that time there was an annexe to the west, containing workshops and a studio. At the time of listing, in 1978, it was noted that the Ionic shopfront had been removed, with plate-glass windows installed. A shopfront – modified or wholly replaced – remained in place in 2001, at which time it was serving an antique shop; soon after this was removed and replaced by a stone frontage. Having been converted from commercial to office use, the building became residential. The additions to the west of the building have been demolished, and there is now a smaller C21 extension.

An archaeological investigation to the rear of the building in 2003 found the remains of what is thought to have been a domestic refuse pit containing material dating to the range of C12 to C14, the presence of which indicates that activities extended to this part of London Street during the medieval period.

Reasons for Listing

68 London Street is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

*     as an early-C19 building which contributes to the character of an architecturally varied historic streetscape.

Historic interest:

*     as part of the urban development of Reading’s ancient core.

Group value:

*    the building is in close proximity to a large number of listed buildings and forms part of a strong historic grouping.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26607762

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.

Recommended Books

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  Harrow on the Hill: A photographic portrayal of listed buildings and structures (Historic Buildings Picture Guides)
• 
  London 3: North West: North West v. 3 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Renovating Old Houses: Bringing New Life to Vintage Homes (For Pros By Pros)
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  Oxfordshire: North and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides): Written by Charles O'Brien, 2014 Edition, Publisher: Yale University Press [Hardcover]
• 
  Setting up a Listed Building Heritage Partnership Agreement: Historic England Advice Note 5