The Oval is a Grade II listed building in the Reading local planning authority area, England. First listed on 14 December 1978. Villa, former farmhouse.
The Oval
- WRENN ID
- lunar-finial-bone
- Grade
- II
- Local Planning Authority
- Reading
- Constituency
- Reading Central MP: Matt Rodda (Lab)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 14 December 1978
- Type
- Villa, former farmhouse
- Address
- The Oval, 14, St John's Road
- OS grid reference
- SU 723 731
- Coordinates
- 51.45269, -0.96016
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
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.
Local climate
The Oval sits in a drier-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 730 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 80% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 73% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 34 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 53% of listed buildings. Of these, 14 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
More on this building
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- Full EPC report — heating system, energy costs, size, glazing, construction etc.
- Sale history — 1 transaction since 2022
- No related consent applications matched
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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