Retro: Pub name change

David Cliffe • Published 1 Sep 2009 11:00 0 Comments

ARE you one of those people who grumbles when pubs change their names, sometimes after centuries of staying the same?

The Cross Keys stood on the corner of Gun Street and Bridge Street, Reading, from the 18th century if not earlier. It had one of the commonest pub names. Signwriters would have found it fairly straightforward to produce an image, and in the days before most people could read, it would be easily recognisable.

Crossed keys were the emblem of St Peter, to whom Christ promised the keys of the kingdom.

This image was produced using a wooden stamp, which someone must have brought into the library in 1952. A librarian at the time must have had the idea of pressing the block against the ink-pad used for stamping the dates in library books, and pressing it on a piece of paper to produce the design.

It says: "From wood block brought in temporarily, Oct 1952." The wording below reads: "Joseph Collins. Cross:Keys:Reading. Feb 28th 1738."

The piece of paper has languished in a box for the last 57 years and now it is being catalogued and added to the illustrations collection.

It looks as though the pub was always on this corner.

The earliest Reading directory to use the numbers of buildings along the streets is Horniman's, of 1827. At that time, Henry Mason was the landlord, and the pub was at No 1 Gun Street.

It was rebuilt on the same site in 1888, designed by local architect John Egginton.

It was (and remains) highly ornate outside, with the cross key motif in what looks like pargetting, and the curved entrance doors on the corner are still there.

The ornate bar with its built-in clock were swept away during one of the modernisations. Since being a Morland's house, it has had several owners.

By the 1990s, it was Bukowski's, and currently it's the Sahara - perhaps an unexpected name for a watering-hole!

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This article appeared in Reading Chronicle 01 Sep 09

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