A former royal palace gateway and a 17th century large barn are two of the six important buildings given protection in Reading.
There are 521 listed buildings in Reading – in the local authority area rather than the constituency area – but just six of them are Grade I listed.
Grade I buildings are considered to be “of exceptional interest”.
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Only around 2.5 per cent of listed buildings in the UK are Grade I.
Listing celebrates a building’s special architectural and historic interest and gives it protection under planning law.
These are the six buildings and sites in Reading given extra special protection by Historic England.
Reading Abbey Ruins
King Henry I founded the abbey in 1121 and was buried there 15 years later.
Reading Abbey was the fourth largest church in Britain, with royal funerals, weddings, court and parliament meetings held there.
The abbey owned the town of Reading and developed it, creating new streets such as Broad Street, Friar Street, London Street and Market Place.
King Henry VIII closed the abbey in 1539 along with hundreds of other abbeys in England and Wales, converting the site into a royal palace.
The abbey was destroyed in the civil war in the 17th century.
The ruins were closed to the public in 2009 and reopened in summer 2018 after a nine-year £3m renovation project.
Abbey Gate
The Abbey Gateway divided the monks’ private living quarters from the public areas of the abbey.
When King Henry VIII closed the abbey in the 16th century, the gateway became a royal palace entrance.
The gateway survived the civil war and was thereafter used by Reading Ladies Boarding School and famously attended by Jane Austen in 1785.
After collapsing in a gale in 1871, shortly after funds had been raised for vital conservation, the gate had to be substantially rebuilt.
The gateway was fully restored in 2018 along with the rest of the ruins.
Church of St Laurence
St Laurence’s Church is a mission church and former parish church.
The church was founded at the same time as the Reading Abbey, in 1121, but was largely rebuilt later that century.
Further major redevelopment took place in the 15th and 17th centuries.
St Laurence’s survived a bombing attack in World War II but its stained-glass windows were blown out.
The church contains a memorial to Tudor mathematician John Blagrave.
Church of St Mary
The history of the Minster Church of St Mary the Virgin is more than a thousand years old.
Its origins date back to the 7th century, when a saint founded a small chapel on the site.
The main part of the church was built in the 11th century but St Mary’s was stripped of its altar, statues and stained glass following in the reformation of the church.
The church has been restored four times, with the first taking place in the late 16th century and the last complete in 2007.
Greyfriars Church
Greyfriars Church was built in 1311 by Franciscan monks determined to help Reading’s poor, sick and vulnerable.
It has also been used as a guildhall, ‘poor hospital’ and jail, with the initials of prisoners carved on an inside pillar still visible.
The modern-day Friar Street church draws a congregation from across the town but also runs New Hope, a community church in York Road, which is dedicated to serving the parish.
Planning permission was granted in July this year to demolish the western foyer of the building and replace it with a larger glazed foyer, with support from Reading Civic Society.
Large Barn to South East of Chazey Farmhouse
The only Grade 1-listed building in Reading north of the river, Chazey Court Barn dates back to 1611.
It is part of the Chazey Court Farm complex in The Warren.
English Heritage describe the site as being in a “very bad condition” and “at immediate risk of further rapid deterioration”.
The barn is not in use, has structural cracking and is temporarily supported by shoring.
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Reading Borough Council (RBC) and Historic England are currently discussing plans for repair works to the barn.
The farmhouse was the site of the Manor of Mapledurham Chazey before being acquired in 1582 by the owners of the adjoining estate of Mapledurham Gurney.
The building was listed in 1951.
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