West Memorial Hall
Encyclopedia
The West Memorial Hall, or West Memorial Institute, is a Victorian
Grade II listed building at 7-9 Gosbrook Road, Caversham, Berkshire
, designed by Alfred Waterhouse
. The Hall is a former Baptist Free Church that has now been converted to apartments.
style. It is positioned gable end to the street and built in red brick with blue brick decorative features including bands above and below a large rose window and an alternating red and blue pattern above the ground floor windows. It also has a distinctive hipped rectangular stair turret to the gallery with external stairs. Flying buttress
es may be seen on the outside walls.
In 1911 the Hall was extended on the east side in a similar style to the existing building with a central gable facing the road and a small ornamental cross on the apex of the roof as on the original.
. West also funded most of the cost of building the new Caversham Baptist Free Church a decade later, also by Waterhouse, which stands on the opposite side of the road. After the new church opened, the Memorial Hall was used as a school. In 1911 it was extended "...to find rooms for wholesome recreation and moral improvement for the young men of Caversham, and to increase the space available for religious teaching on Sundays in connection with the Caversham Free Church, of which the late Mr Ebenezer West was so generous a supporter."
The Hall was Grade II listed by English Heritage on 14 December 1978, meaning that it is regarded as "nationally important and of special interest". From 1980 it was the Caversham Dance Centre.
Around 2000, the Hall was converted into apartments and it is now known as The Waterhouse. In 2010 a planning application to build apartments on an adjacent site was refused by Reading Borough Council, partly on the grounds that the application was not in keeping with the Grade II listed status of the Hall.
Victorian architecture
The term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...
Grade II listed building at 7-9 Gosbrook Road, Caversham, Berkshire
Caversham, Berkshire
Caversham is a suburb and former village in the unitary authority of Reading, England. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, within the royal county of Berkshire, on the opposite bank from the rest of Reading...
, designed by Alfred Waterhouse
Alfred Waterhouse
Alfred Waterhouse was a British architect, particularly associated with the Victorian Gothic Revival architecture. He is perhaps best known for his design for the Natural History Museum in London, and Manchester Town Hall, although he also built a wide variety of other buildings throughout the...
. The Hall is a former Baptist Free Church that has now been converted to apartments.
Architecture
The Hall was designed by the noted Victorian architect Alfred Waterhouse in 1865-66 in the GothicGothic Revival architecture
The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...
style. It is positioned gable end to the street and built in red brick with blue brick decorative features including bands above and below a large rose window and an alternating red and blue pattern above the ground floor windows. It also has a distinctive hipped rectangular stair turret to the gallery with external stairs. Flying buttress
Flying buttress
A flying buttress is a specific form of buttressing most strongly associated with Gothic church architecture. The purpose of any buttress is to resist the lateral forces pushing a wall outwards by redirecting them to the ground...
es may be seen on the outside walls.
In 1911 the Hall was extended on the east side in a similar style to the existing building with a central gable facing the road and a small ornamental cross on the apex of the roof as on the original.
History
The Hall was the original Baptist church in Caversham, and its construction was mostly funded by the Reverend Ebenezer West, principal of Amersham HallAmersham Hall
Amersham Hall was a "school for the sons of dignified gentlemen" in England. From 1829 to 1861 it was located in Elmodesham House in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, relocating in 1861 to Berkshire...
. West also funded most of the cost of building the new Caversham Baptist Free Church a decade later, also by Waterhouse, which stands on the opposite side of the road. After the new church opened, the Memorial Hall was used as a school. In 1911 it was extended "...to find rooms for wholesome recreation and moral improvement for the young men of Caversham, and to increase the space available for religious teaching on Sundays in connection with the Caversham Free Church, of which the late Mr Ebenezer West was so generous a supporter."
The Hall was Grade II listed by English Heritage on 14 December 1978, meaning that it is regarded as "nationally important and of special interest". From 1980 it was the Caversham Dance Centre.
Around 2000, the Hall was converted into apartments and it is now known as The Waterhouse. In 2010 a planning application to build apartments on an adjacent site was refused by Reading Borough Council, partly on the grounds that the application was not in keeping with the Grade II listed status of the Hall.