Summary
Shop house, built in 1904 to designs by William Roland Howell of Coopers and Howell.
History
Modest rural settlements likely existed in the area as far back as the first century. By the time of the Norman Conquest of 1066, Reading had become a town of notable size. After Reading Abbey was founded in 1121, the town grew substantially; spurred on by cloth production, the establishment of the new Market Place, and what would today be known as London Street, an extension to the High Street that facilitated trade to and from London. By 1525, the town’s thriving cloth industry led Reading to become the largest town in Berkshire. In 1542, Henry VIII’s royal charter made Reading a borough. Following significant upheaval during the Civil War, the town flourished during C18 and C19. Several developments during the late C18 and C19 encouraged further growth and prosperity, including the arrival of the Great Western Railway, improvements to the navigability of the River Kennet, and the growth of the local brewing industry.
8 High Street was constructed in 1904 to designs by the architect William Roland Howell (1867-1940) of Cooper and Howell for E Jackson and Son, replacing an earlier, three-storey building on the site. Its High Street frontage is of a rich, Art Nouveau style. William Roland Howell was an acclaimed local architect who worked in partnership with JJ Cooper as Cooper and Howell from 1891 to 1905. Howell became Superintendent of Works for Berkshire in 1924, Chairman of the Berkshire Society of Architects in 1922, and Mayor of Reading between 1921 and 1922. The builders of 8 High Street were Lewis Bros of Poole, with faience from Messrs AE Whitehead of Leeds.
Prior to its early-C20 reconstruction, the building had a two-storey extension to its rear, east elevation which abutted a small courtyard and stable. A rear, three-storey element is present in 2022, indicating the original extension was rebuilt with an added storey while following the same footprint. The site behind the building has been cleared for the redevelopment of a new residential block to Jacksons Corner. The shopfront facing the High Street is a later-C20 replacement.
Details
Shop house, built in 1904 to designs by William Roland Howell of Coopers and Howell.
MATERIALS: the street-facing elevation is of faience tiles with timber and coursed rubblestone shopfront. The rear elevations are of red brick.
PLAN: the building is of three storeys plus attic and basement. It comprises two principal volumes: a principal range to the west fronting High Street and a rear range extending eastwards into the urban block.
EXTERIOR: the front, west elevation of 8 High Street is designed in a rich, Art Nouveau style. It presents a wide, single-bay frontage onto the High Street. The ground floor is largely occupied by a later-C20, glazed shopfront with half-glazed double doors to the north. The black overlight above the entryway at the northern end of the façade reads ‘BANK CHAMBERS / No. 8a’ in gilt letters. Black faience tiles flank the shopfront on either side and extend upwards to enclose a large, fan-shaped window at first-floor level. Voussoirs with curvilinear, Art Nouveau-style motifs surround this window. The upper half of the first storey is clad in green faience tiles. The second storey is divided by three trapezoid hanging buttresses that are connected to the first storey by decorative, foliate corbels. Each buttress is stamped with a relief cartouche. Two bays of tripartite, segmental-headed sash windows span the intervals between these buttresses and are each topped by a curved modillion cornice. At its apex, the building exhibits a heavy modillion cornice with flanking, foliate turrets. The principal, west range of the building has a pitched roof. The west roof slope carries a large dormer with a tripartite, mullioned casement window and a heavy modillion cornice. The rear range has an irregular gable roof, the eaves of which are oriented north/south and span the rear element of 8 High Street. The north, east and south elevations of 8 High Street are red brick. The north elevation fronts onto a shared service alley with 1-2 Market Place, while the east elevation comprises two small, ancillary extensions and an irregular layout of four casement windows.
