128 St George’s Road, the former women’s and children’s dispensary, known as The Read Dispensary

Former women's and children's dispensary, known as The Read Dispensary

This former dispensary for women and children was designed in 1905 by Percival Hartland Thomas in the Domestic Revival style. The building is constructed of red brick with sections of render and half timbering, featuring red brick stacks, plain clay tile roofs, and timber plank entrance doors. Glazed green bricks are used to the window reveals and door jambs, with rubbed brick surrounds to the round windows. Some wrought iron windows with leaded lights survive, particularly on the south elevation, though other windows comprise replacement uPVC insertions and some later additions.

The two-storey building tapers from east to west and is legible as three distinct units: the former waiting hall aligned north to south, the principal central section aligned west to east, and the former dispensary at the west end. The site slopes downwards from north to south, allowing for a basement on the southern side and positioning the ground floor windows to the south above eye level to afford privacy from the street.

The north elevation comprises at its east end a wide gabled bay with half timbering above a high brick plinth. A pair of timber entrance doors with small leaded lights to the upper section are set beneath a lean-to canopy supported on timber brackets. The central section has a hipped gableted roof with a tall east end stack and a lateral stack to the north elevation; the west end stack has been removed. The two first-floor window openings are set beneath gables and have been reduced in size, retaining the upper sections of their glazed green brick reveals. A half dormer window is positioned to the right. The ground floor sits beneath a lean-to canopy, partially supported on timber brackets. A stone plaque inscribed 'THE READ DISPENSARY' appears on the left-hand side of the ground floor, with a pair of timber entrance doors featuring small leaded lights and a transom light above positioned to the right. The original ground floor window openings have brick cambered lintels.

The former dispensary at the west end has been raised to form a two-storey block with a pitched roof; the raised two-storey projection at the west end has a hipped roof. To the south side of the former dispensary is a single-storey flat-roofed entrance porch with a timber plank entrance door to the west beneath a flat-roof canopy supported on timber brackets and a round window to the south.

The south elevation of the central section is of brick to the ground floor and rendered to the first floor. The first-floor windows, some of which are iron casements with leaded lights, are set beneath jettied, half-timbered gables supported on timber brackets. A stair window appears on the left-hand side of this range. The ground floor extends forward at an angle and beneath a lean-to canopy are the high-level ground-floor window openings. A round window is positioned to the left-hand end. The foundation stone appears at the centre of the ground floor wall. The wide gabled bay at the right-hand end has a stepped, jettied gable and is rendered with half timbering. The brick ground floor is set forward with rounded corners and includes two round windows and additional window openings with timber lintels and black brick cills.

The interior has not been inspected, but some original fittings and fixtures survive, including the staircase and the hammerbeam roof.