History of Reading Society

THE subject of the November talk was the “Architectural history of Caversham: a personal view”.

The speaker was Dr Megan Aldrich, who began her career at the Victoria & Albert Museum and later became an academic director at Sotheby’s Institute of Art in London.

For much of its existence, the Reading suburb of Caversham was a village in the county of Oxfordshire and quite independent of its larger neighbour.

This separateness was reinforced by the physical barriers of the River Thames and surrounding marshland.

However, following Reading’s relentless expansion in the late 19th century, Caversham was absorbed by Reading in 1911.

In common with many ancient settlements in England, Caversham developed around the parish church.

The church, which is dedicated to St Peter, can trace its history back to 1162 when it was gifted to Notley Abbey in Buckinghamshire by Walter Giffard, Earl of Buckingham.

Today, the church’s appearance is the result of the numerous restoration works of the late 19th century, principally that executed by a local firm of architects, Morris & Stallwood.

Some Norman work survives at the south door and in the north aisle.

Opposite the church is Caversham Court Gardens. This was the site of the original rectory erected in the 1450s. It was built around three sides of an inner courtyard and the principal room was the long gallery. After the dissolution of the monasteries in the 1530s it was tenanted by lay people.

In the 20th century the house was bought by Reading Corporation which, in 1933, decided to demolish it. Today, it is a public park.

On higher ground to the east stands Caversham Park.

The present house, mostly
re-built in the 1850s, is a pleasantly unmemorable neo-Classical design by the London architect Sir Horace Jones for the industrialist William Crawshay.

It was the first country house in England built around an iron frame, the elevations being clad with Bath stone. The colonnaded flanking wings survive from the previous house.

In the Seventies a large housing estate, Caversham Park Village, would encroach on the estate’s parkland.

Caversham’s more modest domestic architecture is no less interesting. Along Church Road and Surley Row are to be found examples of pre-Georgian timber-framed houses.

Victorian speculative builders erected many terraced houses, which are now admired for their ornate brickwork. Many of the bricks were supplied by Colliers of Reading.

A middle-class suburb emerged at Caversham Heights and today its spacious villas are sought after.

Caversham is well represented with non-conformist places of worship. Many were designed by Reading’s most eminent architects such as Alfred Waterhouse who was responsible for the Free Baptist Church in Prospect Street.

Among the secular public buildings, the library in Church Street is notable. It was designed in 1906 by William Lewton in a florid art nouveau style

In the 21st century the latest addition to Caversham’s architectural heritage is the new footbridge across the Thames at Christchurch Meadows.

For more information, visit www.historyofreadingsociety.org.uk