41 London Street

Summary

Commercial building, constructed between 1845 and 1875, extended to the rear during the late C19. The building is currently (2023) in use as offices.

Reasons for Designation

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

Architectural interest:

*     as a mid-C19 commercial building with a symmetrical Italianate-style frontage, that 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.

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 there was a thriving urban community, as 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.

Reading Abbey was founded in 1121 on a site to the north-east of the core of the Saxon town and this transformed Reading into a place of pilgrimage as well as an important trading and ecclesiastical centre with one of the biggest and richest monasteries in England.

A new bridge over the River Kennet had been built by 1186 and London Street was laid out with plots of land as part of the Abbot of Reading Abbey’s urban planning vision. The aim was to divert trade and traffic to the new marketplace at the gates of the Abbey. The transition from the old marketplace at St Mary's Butts was at first resisted by the merchants of Reading but the move was complete by the C14. The dissolution of the Abbey led to the monastic complex becoming a royal palace and by 1611 the town’s population had grown to over 5,000 as a result of its cloth trade John Speed’s map shows that by 1611, 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, with long gardens, outhouses and fields beyond. 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, and the survival of many fine Georgian and Victorian buildings which characterise London Street testifies to the prosperity of the street during this period.

41 London Street was built between 1845 and 1875 on the site of an earlier building. It appears to have always had a commercial use. A photograph of 1878 shows that the building had an ornate, cast iron shopfront and was in use as a chemist at the time. It appears to have been extended to the rear (east) by 1895. It is currently (2023) in use as offices.

Details

Commercial building, constructed between 1845 and 1875, extended to the rear during the late C19. The building is currently (2023) in use as offices.

MATERIALS: red brick with ashlar Bath Stone and grey stone dressings and slate-covered roofs.

PLAN: the building is of three storeys and has an L-shaped plan, with a larger original range to the west fronting onto London Street and a smaller later range to the rear (east), extending along the southern plot boundary.

EXTERIOR: the principal (west) elevation onto London Street is of three bays. It is designed in a loosely Italianate style, with a symmetrical grid of three round-arched openings on each floor with round arches of alternating grey and Bath Stone voussoirs and raised keystones. Each round arch has a hood mould with floral stops, with moulded imposts unifying the arches. All but one of the openings contain a two-over-two, timber sash window with a round-arched upper sash, and a sill beneath supported on corbels, projecting from a sill band. The exception is the southernmost opening on the ground floor, which contains a wide, six-panelled door with a radiating fanlight above. At the top of the elevation is a heavy Bath Stone cornice with modillions.

The original, western range has a pitched roof with an east-west slope and a hipped, full-width projection to the rear, while the lower height roof of the eastern extension comprises two, intersecting, hipped elements. A brick chimney stack rises through the northern slope of the hipped roof over the rear section of the western range.

There is understood to be heavy timber framing to the ground floor visible from the through passage between 41 and 39 London Street.

The rear (east) elevation of the primary range and the north elevation of the later extension contain ranges of timber sash windows. The south elevation of the building is rendered and blank.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

39029

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Pevsner, N, Bradley, S, Tyack, G, The Buildings of England: Berkshire, (2010), pp438-440.

Websites
Reading Borough Council, History of Reading (2012), accessed 14 September 2023 from https://web.archive.org/web/20120425235452/http:/www.reading.gov.uk/residents/history-of-reading/
Ditchfield, PH, Page, W, A History of the County of Berkshire: Volume 3 (1923) pp.336-342, accessed 14 September 2023 from https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/berks/vol3

Other
Reading Borough Council, ‘Huntley & Palmers Audio Trail: Market Place and London Street’. Available at: https://www.reading.gov.uk/planning-and-building-control/heritage-and-conservation/readings-high-street-heritage-action-zone/community-engagement/reading-audio-trails/huntley-palmers-audio-trail-market-place-and-london-street/

End of official list entry

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