Four Broad Street buildings have been recommended to the Locally Important Buildings and Structures List.

85-88 Broad Street are a group of late Victorian commercial properties with shops on the ground floor and residential and commercial on the upper floors.

85 and 88 were modified in the 1930s while 86 and 87 retain their original features.

The nomination was originally made by the Reading Conservation Area Advisory Committee and has the full backing of the Reading Civic Society.

In order to be eligible for nomination, buildings need to be of either historic interest or architectural interest.

A building cannot be considered for the Local List where it is already part of a conservation area or a scheduled monument.

Taken from the report, the nominators state: “This group of four terrace shops, was designed c1868 by local architects, J T & W Brown.

 

Reading Chronicle:

Above: Broad Street c.1905 (credit: Reading CAAC/ Reading library)

“On the first floor of numbers 87 and 87, original timber double hung windows, are still in place and on the first floor the top sash is topped with a semi-circular window and rendered drip mould over the window.

“On the second floor, the windows are topped with a shallow arch on the top section, and shallow arched rendered drip over.

“This is an unusual feature and there are not many buildings with this feature in the centre of Reading.

“There are six pairs of windows with this detail on the first and second floors.

“While the ground floor shops fronts have been lost, it is does not reduce the importance and contribution this group makes to the historic streetscape at the southwestern end of Broad Street.

“In contrast the northern side of Broad street has lost most of the original street facades, with only a few remaining historic buildings.

“On the roof, there are still original chimneys in place, above the shallow double pitched roof, which is still in-tact across all four terraces.”

The interior is yet to be inspected due to Covid restrictions, but the exteriors front and back were inspected on 16 December 2021.

 

Reading Chronicle:

Above: Eastern part of the parade c1885 (Credit: Reading CAAC/James Gafford sketch)

The current landowner of number 88, Mr Sikander Ali Jatoi, is against this proposition and has submitted 14 points against the recommendation.

To summarise, Mr Ali Jatoi believes that the building is not of historical significance and that the nominators are abusing their power to “deprive the building owner from taking advantage of the Government's permitted development regime.”

In response to Mr Ali Jatoi’s concerns, the Reading Borough Council Planning Applications Committee said: “The local listing does not remove any permitted development rights.”

The committee concluded that the buildings were eligible for nomination as it is of “clearly-defined significance in the local context and elements that contribute to its heritage significance remain substantially complete.”

Other locally listed buildings include the front of the Gilette building and Whitley Library.

 

Click here to read the full report for 85-88 Broad Street, and here to find out more about locally listed buildings in Reading.