The Oval

The Oval is an early 19th-century, two-storey detached villa that was originally a farmhouse. It is constructed of red brick with silver grey brick headers and features a toothed brick cornice. The building has wide eaves that support a low-pitched slate roof. Its symmetrical 'T'-plan design is carefully aligned to close the vista along Princes Street from the Reading Hospital, highlighted by a full-height bow window with a French casement on the ground floor. The north front, which faces down St John's Street, consists of three bays with glazing bar sash windows and a central six-panel door set in a recessed arch with a fanlight above. The garden is enclosed by cast iron rails with mushroom caps on stone plinths, although these rails are only present on the south side.