Reading School 900th Anniversary Lecture Series

Three special 900th Anniversary lectures marking Reading School’s historic milestone.

Reading Abbey and Reading School 

16 Sept, 15:30-16:30

Presented by Lindsay and John Mullaney

What is Reading School’s connection to Reading Abbey and is it really 900 years old? Is there evidence to suggest it could be even older?

Join local historians John and Lindsay Mullaney as they take the audience on a fascinating journey looking at the evidence of its earliest existence, and its later development up to the time of Henry VII - while answering the questions of why, where and when Reading Abbey was founded.

Lindsay Mullaney holds a BA in French/Italian and an MA in Applied Linguistics, both from the University of Reading. John Mullaney holds a degree in Philosophy and Theology from the Marianum Faculty of the Pontifical University in Rome, a BA in History and Italian and an MA in Education, both from Reading.

Alfred Waterhouse at Reading School and the Shaping of Victorian Reading

23 Sept, 15:30-16:30

Presented by Dr Stephen Gage

How do you think Alfred Waterhouse’s design of Reading School helped shape the town’s identity during the Victorian era?

As one of the most prolific architects of the Victorian period, Alfred Waterhouse made vital contributions to local communities around England, including Reading, where he lived from 1867 to 1877. In the process, he reshaped the town’s architecture, not least with the designs for Reading School, built from 1868 to 1874. This talk will discuss the architectural history of Waterhouse’s designs for the School, making wider connections to Waterhouse’s educational architecture and the development of Reading’s identity in the Victorian period.

Dr Stephen Gage is a lecturer and BSc Programme Director at the University of Reading School of Architecture. He received a March degree from the Yale School of Architecture and a PhD in Architectural History from the University of Cambridge.

Reading School from 1912 to the present

30 Sept, 15:30-16:30

Presented by Ken Brown and Chris Widdows

Join two venerated Old Redingensians as they take the audience on a whistlestop tour of key moments in Reading School’s more recent history, beginning in 1912. The talk will cover the origins of the present house system, the absorption of Kendrick Boys’ School, the First World War, Headmaster Keeton’s reign and his succession by Headmaster Kemp, coping with the Second World War, the 1944 Education Act, the closure of the Junior School, the Quincentenary celebrations, and the evolution of Reading School into what it is today.

Ken Brown is an Old Redingensian (1955-1963) and Old Redingensians Association Archivist.

Chris Widdows is an Old Redingensian (1955-1962) and the Old Redingensians Association Membership Secretary.