Brock Keep Tour
Heritage Open Days 2023
Sat 16 & Sun 17 Sep, 11:00-16:00
Come for a tour around the historic former armoury and gatehouse which is now home to artist studios and art gallery.
Brock Keep, completed in 1877, is a fine example of the Victorian keeps, built to aid recruitment and to increase local pride. They provided a ceremonial gatehouse, guardroom, fire engine house, and secure storage for arms, ammunition and soldiers' kit. They were designed by distinguished architect Major H C Seddon of the Royal Engineers.
Reading’s Keep is one of the surviving few that have not been demolished or converted. It is grade II listed and is particularly special because of its setting next door to the Lutyens War Memorial and its original Army Depot that is still occupied by the 7th Battalion the Rifles. Its original features are well preserved.
The Keep is now owned by Reading Borough Council and since 1980 has provided artists' studios for OpenHand OpenSpace and Reading Space Studios, and exhibition space for many artists. In the early 1980s, it was used as a shelter for homeless people.
