14 and 16, Castle Street (the Sun Inn)

Summary

Inn, thought to be C17 with earlier origins.

Reasons for Designation

14 and 16 Castle Street, the Sun Inn, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* as a C17 building possibly with earlier origins, the fabric of which contributes to Reading’s rich and varied architectural character.

Historic interest:

* as part of the urban development of Reading’s ancient core, possibly incorporating fragments from earlier buildings on or near its site.

Group value:

* the building is in close proximity to a number of listed buildings and contributes to a strong historic streetscape.

History

The building known as the Sun Inn is speculated to date from the C17, with earlier cellars possibly belonging to the old Reading County Gaol which once stood on the site of St Mary’s Church next door. At one time known as the Rising Sun, the inn’s name had been abbreviated to its current form by the early C19. There are references in some sources to a Norman arch in the building’s rear courtyard which gave access to underground stables. This feature is speculated to have been associated with a medieval friary in the Castle Street area. However, the arch was possibly removed in the mid-C20 and its existence and provenance are unsubstantiated.

Histories of the inn are recorded in several sources (see: Sources section)

The crossroads formed by the north-south route of St Mary’s Butts/Bridge Street and the east-west route of Gun Street/Castle Street is believed to be the centre of the original Saxon settlement at Reading, established sometime before the C9. St Mary’s Church, which lies on the north-east corner of the crossroads, was the town’s primary church until the establishment of Reading Abbey in the C12 and became so again following the dissolution in the late 1530s.

Castle Street forms part of the ancient route through the town between London and the West Country and historically contained many inns and guesthouses. As Reading expanded beyond its medieval limits during the C18 and C19 earlier buildings were gradually replaced with substantial townhouses and public buildings. Redevelopment was piecemeal and mostly confined to individual plots, leading to the street’s great architectural diversity.

This pattern was broken in the late 1960s and 1970s, with the construction of the expansive civic complex on the north side of Castle Street and of the Inner Relief Road immediately to the west of the new complex. These major works required the demolition of most of the buildings on the north side of Castle Street, and separated the more commercial, eastern end of the street nearer the town centre from the more residential, western end of the street as it becomes Castle Hill.

Details

Inn, thought to be C17 with earlier origins, extended in later phases during the C19 and C20.

MATERIALS: the building is of timber-frame construction, faced in painted render, later extensions of painted or rendered brickwork. The roof covering is clay tile.

PLAN: the building is of two storeys with cellars and attics. The plan is accretive, with a principal, hipped roof range to the south, facing Castle Street. There is a half-hipped cross wing to the east, and to the east of this, a further half-hipped bay with a rear wing which is understood to have once been a separate dwelling, later amalgamated with the pub. To the west is a long rear wing. Space between the rear wings is partially infilled with additions of various dates.

EXTERIOR: the principal elevation onto Castle Street is irregular, punctuated off-centre by the projecting southern end of the cross-wing, which contains the main entrance in the form of a plank and batten door with a flat canopy over and a six-over-six sash window with side lights. Above are first-floor and attic windows. A tall, narrow chimney stack rises at the junction between the cross-wing and the bays to the west. To the west, the elevation is built out at the ground floor as a large square bay with a continuous row of six-over-one sash windows. There are two six-over-six sashes at the first floor. Set back to the east is a further one-and-a-half bays with six-over-six sashes and a second door; this range was once a separate dwelling.

The east and west elevations are largely blind. The rear is an irregular composition with three historic wings and several infill extensions. Windows are a mixture of sashes and casements and some of the framing of the east wing is exposed in its gable wall.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

38822

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Cliffe, D, Dearing, J, Williams, E, Abbot Cook to Zero Degrees, an A to Z of Reading’s Pubs and Breweries, (2021)

Websites
History of the Sun of Reading, 2003, accessed 17 October 2023 from https://reading.camra.org.uk/history

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