Summary
80 London Street, a timber-framed building constructed in the C17 or C18, re-fronted in the mid-C19.
Reasons for Designation
80 London Street, Reading, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
Architectural interest:
* as a building of the C17 or C18, re-fronted in the mid-C19, 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.
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.
The mid-C19 street-facing elevation of 80 London Street conceals an earlier core which is of timber-framed construction with brick infill. The plan of the building closely resembles the typical form of terraced housing in London during the later C17, with a transverse stair between the front and rear rooms; however, a datestone in the rear wall gives the date 1753. If this is the original build date, the building was archaic in both plan form construction or may provide a date of alteration of an earlier, later-C17 building. The Reading Board of Health map (1853) indicates that at that time the building was accessed via a covered passage located on its south side, which also gave access to its rear garden. The building had a series of single-storey ancillary structures connected to the northern section of its rear, west elevation that followed the northern boundary line. By the end of the C19, the building a printer operated within the building, and there was an independent, single-storey ‘machine room’ located at the rear of the garden. All ancillary structures appear to have been swept away in the second half of the C20 and replaced by the present rear extension in the early C21. The access through passage is thought to have become a front doorway in the later C20. The building (2022) currently functions as offices.
Details
Timber-framed building constructed in the C17 or C18 (datestone of 1753), re-fronted in the mid-C19.
MATERIALS: the original structure is timber frame with brick infill. The street-facing elevation is stuccoed brick. The rear elevation is of red brick with a tile-hung gable. The half-hipped roof is tiled, and there are brick stacks.
PLAN: the original range is rectangular on plan, with a covered passageway, now enclosed to the south.
EXTERIOR: the street-facing elevation is arranged over three storeys with basement, and is rendered with stucco lined out to resemble ashlar. On the ground floor the southern entrance is now fronted by a C20 part-glazed door with overlight; to the north is a large C20 shop window in the C19 opening, with a basement light below. Piers between and flanking the openings have impost mouldings below a plain fascia with cornice. The first floor has three windows in projecting eared surrounds with cills supported by brackets; the openings contain six-over-one horned sash frames. These windows are set into projecting surrounds with cills supported by brackets. The second floor contains one central window of similar form, its cill set on a platband. The architrave around this window merges into a similar band above which is a heavy projecting cornice and parapet.
To the rear, the southern doorway is now covered by the extended passageway; the 1985 List entry noted that there was a ground-floor window with an original segmental-arched opening, partially blocked. There is a single segmental-arched window at first-floor level. The gable above is tile-hung, with a C20 casement window. A stone tablet set in a rear wall reads ‘w j March 25 1753’.
INTERIOR: it is understood that the interior has been little altered, retaining the original dog-leg stair with closed strings, and column-on-vase baluster from top to bottom, and the ground-floor front room has a simple wooden cornice and chimneypiece.
