Former BBC estate sold for retirement housing

THE BBC’s former base in Caversham has been sold for possible conversion into flats for the elderly and a care home.

Beechcroft Developments has exchanged contracts with the broadcaster and is set to complete the purchase of Caversham Park, a 
93-acre estate off Peppard Road, after 18 months of negotiations.

The sale price has not been revealed but the estate had an estimated value of up to £20 million when it was first put on the market in 2017.

The site includes a Grade II listed manor house which was previously the home of BBC Radio Berkshire and the corporation’s international media monitoring service.

The BBC has moved these to other sites in Reading and London respectively and wanted to dispose of the estate to save money.

Its written archives centre, a record of the corporation’s working papers, will remain on site.

Beechcroft, which is based in Wallingford and specialises in luxury retirement properties, hopes to submit a planning application to Reading Borough Council by the end of the year.

The company says it will renovate and convert the listed buildings as well as building the care home and “high quality” retirement housing for the over-55s, both for independent and assisted living.

It would also build “affordable” housing for sale and rent.

A Beechcroft spokeswoman said there could be some public access to the open space but this would have to respect the privacy of the new people living there. 

She said the developer had a good record of sensitively restoring old buildings, with recent examples including the 18th-century Orford Place at Ham, near London, which is also Grade II listed.

Beechcroft managing director Chris Thompson said: “We aim to secure a sustainable future for the historic buildings on the site and to create high quality new and converted homes... which will meet both local and national housing needs.  

“New development will respect both the original buildings and the parkland setting, which is an important feature of this site.

 “Caversham Park has a long, fascinating history and is a wonderful historic park and garden within easy reach of Reading’s excellent shopping facilities and transport links. 

“We look forward to engaging with local people and other interested parties as our plans develop over the next few months.”

The Henley Standard revealed Beechcroft’s involvement in March, when the company advertised the upcoming new development in its customer newsletter and on its website despite no sale having been agreed.

The news prompted MP Matt Rodda, whose Reading East constituency includes Caversham, to launch a survey seeking residents’ views on the site’s future. Most of the hundreds who replied weren’t against development in principle but said Beechcroft should restore as much public access as possible and urged Reading Borough Council to formally recognise several unofficial footpaths crossing it.

Some neighbours recalled walking dogs across the site many decades ago but then it was closed to the public, probably because BBC Monitoring was handling confidential material. 

Other suggestions included restocking the old fishing lake and opening it back up to anglers and creating displays on the estate’s history.

This week Mr Rodda said: “Caversham Park is an important historic building, which should be preserved and its grounds should be opened to the public.

“I am pleased that Beechcroft is proposing to preserve the building. However, I am concerned that the company wants to build in the grounds and I hope it will give guarantees to residents about access to the parkland.

“I also hope the company will consider establishing a small museum on site to commemorate the history of the building and its links to the BBC.”

Tony Page, the council’s lead member for planning, called Beechcroft “irresponsible” for advertising its development before completing the sale because there was no guarantee it would be permitted.

He said: “If Beechcroft has any sense, it will make an early approach to the council and begin pre-application discussions based on the policies of our local plan, which sets out clearly our aspirations for the site. We’re pleased to have seen some progress as the BBC has only taken four years to sell it, which is pretty rapid, and hope to hear from the owner as soon as possible.

“It’s in everybody’s interests to see the future of that historic estate secured for posterity.”

The council’s local plan, which it adopted in 2019, says any development at Caversham Park would depend on maintaining its historic fabric and allowing as much public access as possible.

The council’s officers are now looking into the status of public footpaths on the land but access was probably granted at the landowner’s discretion so there may be no legal basis for enforcing it permanently.

The estate occupies the site of the former Caversham Manor, which dates back to the 12th century. 

Charles I was held captive at the old manor house, rebuilt by Sir Francis Knollys in the 1500s, during the Civil War.

The current house was built as a private residence for the Crawshay family in 1850 after the previous one burned down. Its grounds were designed by landscape architect Capability Brown in the early 18th century.

The property served a convalescent home for wounded soldiers during the First World War, then as the home of the independent Oratory School, now based in Woodcote, before the BBC took over in 1941.