A NEW self-guided walking tour of Reading’s rich and varied Georgian architecture has been published to coincide with this year’s Heritage Open Days.
The Georgian Walking Tour leaflet takes the visitor around Reading, highlighting some of the remarkable buildings from the period 1700 -1840 that proliferate in Reading.
In total, there are hundreds of examples of Georgian architecture in and around Reading town centre.
Produced by Dr Stephen Gage, Lecturer in Architecture at the University of Reading, in partnership with REDA (Reading’s Economy and Destination Agency), the new guide draws on the guided walks that Dr Gage has developed and led this year as part of the celebration of Jane Austen’s 250th anniversary.
Many of the stunning buildings featured in the leaflet would have been familiar to a young Jane while she was a school in Reading in the late 1700s.
Highlights of Reading’s Georgian architecture include Eldon Square and Albion Terrace, Watlington House, many of the buildings on London Street and the original frontage of the Royal Berkshire Hospital.
The self-guided walking trail offers two distinct plotted routes from Reading town centre to the east and the west, which can be combined into one longer tour.
Dr Stephen Gage said: “Reading has a wonderful legacy of Georgian architecture if you know where to look.
“In the heyday of the stagecoach era, London Street and Castle Street developed into richly varied Georgian streetscapes, while the Kennet & Avon canal helped spur new genteel residential districts just outside the medieval town centre.
“Today, Reading has preserved much of this fine Georgian architecture, despite the developments of subsequent eras.
“This new walking tour aims to open people’s eyes to what surrounds us in plain sight, but which we don’t always appreciate, the beauty of Georgian Reading.”
The walking leaflet will be available from Reading Museum, libraries, the tourism information kiosk at Reading Station and to download at Visit-Reading.com.
The leaflet will be launched at Stephen Gage’s guided walk for Heritage Open Days “Exploring the Architecture of Georgian Reading” on Saturday, September 13 (though this event has already sold out.)
