The Reading Room

The Reading Room is a 19th-century building, likely incorporating earlier materials. It is constructed from locally sourced lias stone that is roughly cut and squared, and it features a double Roman clay tile roof with a coped west gable and an abutment to the east, along with a brick chimney stack. The building is single-storey with a three-bay roadside elevation. The first two bays contain large 12-pane sash windows, with the sash boxes set flush. The third bay has a boarded door framed heavily, situated under a timber lintel and accessed by two steps. There is a 20th-century steel casement window with leaded glass in the west gable, located in the narrowing of an earlier window that has been partially blocked by the construction of a 20th-century building to the west. On the rear elevation, there is a diamond-glazed window and a blocked timber-framed window of earlier origin. The interior has not been seen. The Reading Room is attached to No 21 on the east gable, with which it shares historical connections and significant group value.