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Reading Museum

A Grade II Listed Building in Abbey, Reading

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Coordinates

Latitude: 51.4571 / 51°27'25"N

Longitude: -0.9699 / 0°58'11"W

OS Eastings: 471668

OS Northings: 173631

OS Grid: SU716736

Mapcode National: GBR QMF.73

Mapcode Global: VHDWT.4MMT

Plus Code: 9C3XF24J+V3

Entry Name: Reading Museum

Listing Date: 24 July 1974

Grade: II

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1321990

English Heritage Legacy ID: 38765

Also known as: Municipal Buildings Art Gallery And Museum
Reading Museum & Town Hall
Museum of Reading
Reading Museum and Art Gallery

ID on this website: 101321990

Location: Reading, Berkshire, RG1

County: Reading

Electoral Ward/Division: Abbey

Parish: Non Civil Parish

Built-Up Area: Reading

Traditional County: Berkshire

Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): Berkshire

Church of England Parish: Reading St Mary the Virgin

Church of England Diocese: Oxford

Tagged with: Local museum Local authority museum

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Description


This list entry was subject to a Minor Amendment on 29/10/2019

SU 7173 NE
1/409

READING
Blagrave Street
Reading Museum

(Formerly listed as Municipal Buildings Art Gallery and Museum)

24.7.74.

GV
II

1894 designed by a local architect (W.R Howell) to fill corner between concert hall and earlier school of art (qv). Asymmetric design in Gothic style closely echoing the style of the concert hall. Two storeys attic and basement. Dark blue brick with dark red brick and terracotta dressings. Sandstone plinth. Terracotta band over ground floor, the carved reliefs depicting history of Reading; (incomplete but Saxon foundation, founding of Abbey and Magna Carta however can be seen). Arcaded cornice continued right across.

Projecting terracotta polygonal porch turret, heavy arcaded and decorated ground floor, gables over first floor windows. Three bay gable to right matches entrance to concert hall (coped gable, poppy head saddlestone, arcaded band and polygonal corner buttresses); two attic lancets flanking statue of Queen Victoria in canopied niche, C13 style. Two-light and oculus windows on first floor, segmental headed on ground floor. Corner block polygonal, basically a projecting chamfered turret with steep saddleback roof and three extremely rich gabled French Renaissance dormers with C13 geometrical tracery. First floor blind with three canopied niches on corners. On ground floor five foiled lancets and a basement of segmental headed windows. Commemorative marble tablet on corner. Return to Valpy Street repeats Waterhouse and Lainson use of triangular section buttresses capped with pinnacles between bays. Five bays. First floor blind, ground floor has two-light and oculus pointed windows with gables over. Tiled roofs. Octagonal belfry at east end, crenellated.

This composition is loosely said to be derived from Waterhouses Manchester Town Hall. Despite some similarities with other Gothic-style buildings in Manchester's Albert Square it is in fact much more closely related to the Waterhouse and Lainson blocks adjacent.

Listing NGR: SU7166873631

External Links

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