A FUNDRAISING appeal has been launched to try and restore a Reading landmark before a deadline set by the council expires.
Cemetery Arch forms the gateway to the town’s old cemetery and also acts as a marker for people heading in and out of the east of the town.
The imposing structure is a Grade II listed building, but is failing into a state of disrepair.
A community group, Junction Arch Heritage and Arts, wants to buy the building and the land behind it, carry out essential repairs and reopen the buildings.
It is hoped it could become a meeting room and gallery space, and a community garden café.
The south lodge area would become office space that could be let out to charities, community groups, social enterprises or small creative businesses.
And a former shower block would be converted into toilets with disabled access and changing facilities.
The group also hope to add a refill station for household products.
The group’s ambitions go beyond the physical: they want to develop a mobile phone app that would allow people to see what the Arch was like in the 1850s and, going back further, the gallows that stood at the junction before the cemetery was built, and a leper hospital believed to date back to the 11th century.
To help turn this dream into a reality, the team want donations to fund the work.
A note on its website reads: “We’re currently working on applying for grants to fund essential repair work on the Arch and bring it into a usable state.
“In the meantime, if you could donate a few pounds to support our campaign, that would be extremely helpful.”
They also welcome larger donations.
The arch has been unused for more than a decade, and funding would help protect the delicate stonework surrounding it. Earlier this year, fencing was erected in case parts of it collapsed.
The future of the arch is still undecided as the extent of work that needs to be undertaken on the building has not been fully explained.
In April, a spokesperson for Reading Borough Council said: “In July 2021 the Council agreed to offer local arts group Junction Heritage and Arts an opportunity to develop its ambitions for Reading’s Cemetery Arch for community heritage and arts hub.
“An initial 18-month agreement was made with JAHA while the group worked to attract the necessary grant funding from the Architectural Heritage Fund in order to restore the Grade II listed structure.”
They continued: “The Council has now asked the group to confirm it is eligible for the funding it was hoping to attract by the end of June. In the meantime, our position remains that JAHA’s proposal would provide economic, community and social wellbeing benefits for the town.
“While continuing to work with JAHA on its aspirations, the Council has continued to monitor the arch in the interim.
“Structural engineers commissioned by the Council have advised that there is a low risk of some stonework falling.”
To make a donation, or for more details on the project, log on to: https://www.junctionarch.org
