124 Castle Hill

Summary

A house, built in the early C19, flats in 2023.

Reasons for Designation

124 Castle Hill, Reading, 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.

Group value:

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

History

124 Castle Hill is a substantial townhouse built sometime in the early C19 during the westward expansion of Reading’s inner suburbs. Coates’ map of 1802 does not appear to show the building as extant although its appearance and that of the surrounding buildings suggest that it was built shortly thereafter. The single-storey rear projection along the eastern boundary of the property’s plot is a later addition but was extant by 1879.

124 Castle Hill was built as a single dwelling and appears to have remained as such into the first half of the C20. By the 1970s, it had been converted into council flats and is now private flats.

Details

A house, built in the early C19, converted into flats in the late C20.

MATERIALS AND PLAN: the Castle Hill (south) elevation is stuccoed while the east and north elevations are of painted brick. The gabled roof covering is slate. The building is of three storeys plus basement.

EXTERIOR: the street front has five bays facing onto Castle Hill. The basement is minimally visible from the street, with two barred basement lights to the east of the main entrance. There is a single-storey rear projection along the western boundary. The primary elevation is of a symmetrical design with five openings on each floor. The main entrance sits centrally in the elevation and comprises a six-panelled door with a batwing fanlight above, set within a round-arched recess. To either side are two six-over-six sash windows. There is a plat band at first-floor sill height. The first and second floors each contain five windows: those on the first floor are six-over-six sashes and those on the second floor are three-over-three sashes. Above the second floor is a parapet cornice which continues around initially onto the east and west elevations.

The eastern elevation onto Carey Street is largely blank aside from a barred basement light and two six-over-six sashes and a round-arched casing window with timber glazing bars on the ground floor of the main building, and two three-over-three sashes under gauged brickwork flat arches on the rear projection. Two chimney stacks breach the gable, and a smaller stack, possibly serving the later rear extension, is on the south-east corner of the main building. The rear (north) elevation, partially visible from the street, contains a variety of sash windows on all floors.

There is an approximately 2m-high boundary wall of C19 brickwork to Carey Street.

INTERIOR: It is understood that the house retains historic fixtures and fittings including the original wooden staircase with square balusters and moulded rail, ceiling friezes and timber shutters to many windows. There is a wide hall containing a bracketed arch with reeded soffit.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

38826

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
G Tyack, S Bradley, Buildings of England, Berkshire, (2010), 470

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