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New Acquisitions - the latest additions to the Museum's collection

The Museum acquires objects for the collection to document and celebrate Reading, its people, its environment and its surroundings, and to provide inspiration for life-long learning and creativity.

Archive of The Immigrants Project

The museum has recently received the oral history archive for The Immigrants Project. The archive tells the stories of people who came from all over the world to live and work in Reading. It was co-ordinated by the Reading Local History Trust during 2006. The project also resulted in a book called Routes to Reading.

Further Information
35 people were interviewed by volunteer interviewers. They came from 25 different countries around the world. You can find out more about this project on our community page - click here.

Collier's brick, tile and pottery works

S & E Collier Ltd were Reading's largest brick makers from the late 19th to mid 20th centuries. A catalogue for the company's Silchester Ware range of pottery and a photograph of their Grovelands Works have recently been given to the collection.

Further Information
This photograph shows the company's Grovelands Works in Tilehurst, West Reading, in the 1890s or 1900s. Here you can see the works' rural surroundings with the hedge-lined Tilehurst Road and woods of Prospect Park beyond.

Corporation of Reading Yard

This is the Corporation of Reading’s official Imperial Yard measure of 1830. The yard is a brass rod and it rests on a brass stand (a detail of the rod and stand is shown below). The Yard has been transferred to the Museum’s collection from Trading Standards. The rest of the 1830 measures were passed to the Museum in 1975 and some are on display in the Reading : People & Place Gallery. Two sets of scales dating to 1782, that were also used by the Corporation, have also been transferred to the collection.

Further Information
The measures would have been used to ensure fair trading by the town's tradesmen. Six years before these measures were made in 1830, Parliament had passed the Act introducing the Imperial System of weights and measures. The UK adopted metric weights and measures alongside Imperial measures in 1965 and agreed to move towards metric units on joining the European Community in 1973. Yards can still be used on road traffic signs, but goods sold by length must now be sold in metric units.

George Blackall-Simonds (1843 - 1929)

George Blackall-Simonds, 1927
by Sir Oswald Birley
oil on canvas

This portrait was given to Reading Museum Service by Scottish & Newcastle UK in June 2007.

Further Information
During the later part of his life Simonds was chairman of local brewers H & G Simonds, and this portrait was hung in the brewery boardroom. H & G Simonds later became part of the Courage brewing empire which was acquired by Scottish & Newcastle plc in 1995. Scottish & Newcastle continue to brew at the Berkshire Brewery, close to Junction 11 of the M4.

Simonds was a well-known and innovative sculptor whose works included The Maiwand Lion, the huge cast-iron sculpture in Forbury Gardens, Reading. His best-known work is The Falconer in Central Park, New York. He was a founder and first Master of The Art Workers Guild, an important part of the Arts & Crafts movement.

Simonds was instrumental in the revival of interest in falconry which resulted in the founding of The British Falconers' Club in 1927. He was voted Reading's favourite son in a recent poll by Reading Libraries.

For a full biography visit the Library website

Reading Gasworks photographs

A small group of photographs that offer a fascinating glimpse of working life at the gasworks in the 1900s have recently been given to the museum.

Further Information
This image from about 1904 shows a pile driver at work on the 'Simplex' piles that formed the foundation of no.4 gasholder. The man in the white coat and straw hat is Mr L.A. Rumble the site representative for the construction contractors, Messrs C. and W. Walker of Donnington. He later became Assistant Engineer and Manager of Reading Gas Co. from 1916 to 1938. In the background is the Sulphate of Ammonia Plant, built about 1894.

ZIGZAG punk magazine

This 1977 punk magazine was printed in Reading. It was designed to give fans outside London an idea of punk rock. Kris Needs, editor of Zigzag magazine brokered the deal to get it printed. Zigzag also had offices in Reading, just off the King’s Road at 10 Kennet Street.

Further Information
Reading had a lively punk scene and most of the major punk bands played early gigs at Reading’s Bones club, for some of them their first outing outside London, galvanising the youth of the town. Punk pubs, clubs and haunts were quickly established, such as the Star, Target, Caribbean Club, Venus and Quicksilver Records. Local bands and fanzines sprang up overnight. We collected this magazine after our recent exhibition on Reading's punk scene, Rip it up!

Object numbers are unique to each item and are used for purposes of identification. Should you have a query concerning an object on the site please quote this number when contacting us.