2 And 4, Reading Road

1. 5355

SU 7582 HENLEY-ON-THAMES READING ROAD (west side)

1/366 Nos 2 and 4

II GV

1. House, now shop and garage premises. C15 remodelled early C19; later additions and alterations. Timber-framed with red-brick cladding and front roughcast; plain tile roof. Probably originally an open-hall house. 2 storeys. Irregular front with 4 lst-floor windows, early C19 stair wing added to rear left; C20 garage building added to rear centre and left not of special interest. Continuous C20 shop front with glazed double doors to right and half-glazed door to left. 1st-floor windows have C19 casements, 1st and 3rd from left of 2 lights, 4th of 3 lights and 2nd blind; and mid-C19 hoodmoulds. Rear: rectangular-panelled timber frame visible; old 6-panel door (some panels now glazed) to centre; near-central external stack. Interior: timber frame appears to be largely intact: left-hand (southern bay) has 2 closely-spaced large-scantling tie-beams on jowelled wall posts to rear (west) wall which may indicated position of former smoke bay; right-hand (northern bay) has curved wind braces up to purlins; upper roof structure not visible. In stair wing, dog-leg stair with square section balusters, columnar newels, and wood handrail; at head of stairs a 2-light arched window. There is a Buckler drawing (1827) of the house in the Bodleian Library, Oxford. Building unoccupied October 1989. (Information from Henley on Thames Archaeological and Historical Group).

Listing NGR: SU7610682478