Reading Town Hall consists of four buildings built in the 18th and 19th centuries. In 1786 the oldest building – the Victoria Hall – opened as a purpose-built town hall designed by Charles Poulton. A new council chamber and a clock tower designed by Alfred Waterhouse opened in 1876 followed by the Museum, Library and a Concert Hall, designed by the architect Thomas Lanson.
An Art Gallery and Library Reading room were then added and then in 1975 new civic offices were built to serve Reading Borough and the Town Hall ceased its administration function. Reading Town Hall now hosts a leading conference and banqueting venue, Reading Museum and the Berkshire Coroner’s Office. It is the visitor hub for exploring the historic Reading Abbey Quarter.
The Queen Victoria statue located outside the Town Hall was another creation of the sculptor, George Simonds, who also sculpted the Maiwand Lion. A tip of one of the statue’s fingers is now in Reading museum after being blown off in a bomb explosion in 1943.
This German bombing raid on Wednesday 10th February 1943 killed more than 40 people and injured over a hundred others. Many of them were in the People’s Pantry restaurant which was opposite the town hall. Michael Bond, who was 17 at the time, was lucky to survive as he was in the Pantry at the time. You may know Michael as the author of the wonderful Paddington Bear stories. In 2013, to commemorate the 70th anniversary of this tragedy, a memorial plaque was placed on the walls of Blandy and Blandy solicitors, between the Town Hall and St Laurence’s church.
