Building    From 1844  To /11/2013

Reading Gaol

Categories: Law, Property

Former prison on Forbury Road in Reading. Designed by George Gilbert Scott. Its most famous inmate was Oscar Wilde, who wrote 'The Ballad of Reading Gaol' whilst he was here. It housed prisoners of war in both world wars and in 1992 became a remand centre and young offenders Institution. Renamed HM Prison Reading, it became a Grade II listed building in 1978. Since its closure, various new uses have been suggested, including an arts and theatre centre.

Credit for this entry to: Alan Patient of www.plaquesoflondon.co.uk

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Reading Gaol

Commemorated ati

Oscar Wilde - Clapham Junction

The plaque was unveiled by actor Russell Tovey and Mayor of Wandsworth, Lesli...

Read More

Other Subjects

Tun prison, Cornhill

Tun prison, Cornhill

The Sole Society say The Tun "stood here between 1283 and 1401 and was used in the main to incarcerate ‘street walkers and lewd women’. Stocks and a pillory replaced it and in 1703 Daniel Defoe, wh...

Place, Law

1 memorial
Justice for Lai Dai Han

Justice for Lai Dai Han

This group campaigns for an independent UN-led investigation into allegations of widespread sexual violence by South Korean soldiers during the Vietnam War. The group commissioned the Mother and Ch...

Group, Gender Issues, Law, Social Welfare

1 memorial
Sir William Francis Kyffin Taylor

Sir William Francis Kyffin Taylor

G.B.E., K.C., Master of the Bench, 1905 - 1951, Treasurer of Inner Temple 1926. 1st and last Baron Maenan.

Person, Law

1 memorial
Clink prison

Clink prison

The Clink Prison is the name given to all the prisons that have stood on a number of sites in this vicinity. The first prison in 1127 was a cellar in the Palace of the Bishop of Winchester, and the...

Building, Law

2 memorials
Sir Tasker Watkins

Sir Tasker Watkins

Soldier and judge. Born at 9 Station Terrace, Nelson, Glamorgan. In Normandy, he led an assault on a German machine-gun post. After all the other officers were killed in the approach, he continued ...

Person, Armed Forces, Law, France, Wales

1 memorial

Previously viewed

World War 1

World War 1

We'd always assumed that this war was known as the Great War until WW2 came along at which point it was renamed as World War One or the First World War. But the term was first used in print in 1920...

Event, Armed Forces, Tragedy

402 memorials
Valerie Eliot

Valerie Eliot

Second wife and widow of the poet T.S. Eliot. Born Esmé Valerie Fletcher. From the age of 14 she determined to meet Eliot and when she left school she told her headmistress tht she wanted to become...

Person, Friend / family

2 memorials
Madness

Madness

Rock group. Originally formed as the 'North London Invaders'. They changed their name when Graham (Suggs) McPherson took over the lead vocals. Their chart successes include 'Our House', 'House of F...

Group, Music / songs

1 memorial
Daniel, Elisabeth and Margaret Reardon

Daniel, Elisabeth and Margaret Reardon

Father, mother and sister to Miss Ellen Reardon who, via a bequest, erected drinking fountains in their memory. Margaret died 13 January 1876. Ellen died in 1880 so the parents were dead by then too.

Group, Friend / family

2 memorials
London & Manchester Assurance Co Ltd

London & Manchester Assurance Co Ltd

From the picture source website: "London & Manchester Group first saw the light of day back in 1869 when it was registered as the London and Manchester Industrial Assurance Co. Limited. The wor...

Group, Commerce

4 memorials