Reading Hall

Reading Hall is a former farmhouse dating from the 16th century, with a 17th-century two-cell cross-wing on the right, creating a T-shaped plan. The building is timber framed and roughcast-rendered, topped with a thatched roof. It has two storeys and attics, featuring mid-20th century casement windows without glazing bars. The doorway is located at the front gable end of the cross-wing, with a mid-20th century door and an open porch adorned with wooden trelliswork.

A heavy square chimney stack is situated at the junction of the two ranges; to the north, the shaft has an inset oblong panel with an upper sawtooth brick course, likely once above a lobby entrance. Intact studding is visible in the upper rooms, and the wall braces in the hall range (and probably the cross-wing) are halved against the outside of the studs. The joists are plain or slightly chamfered, all set flat except for the cross-wing attic floor, where they are placed on edge.

On the ground floor, there is an open fireplace in the cross-wing with a semi-circular back. An upper room in the cross-wing features 17th-century ornamental plasterwork on the chimney breast, including a central roundel with foliage and small foliage motifs on each side. The plasterwork in the rear gable of the cross-wing is painted with the initials 'IR' and the date 1684 (or possibly 1634). The roof over the hall range has one row of clasped purlins and some straight wind bracing, indicating that this roof is likely a 17th-century replacement.