Museum of Reading

Reading Museum

The entrance to the Reading Museum within Reading Town Hall
Location within Reading Town Centre
Established	1883
Location	Reading, Berkshire, UK
Coordinates	51°27′26″N 0°58′13″W / 51.4572°N 0.9702°W / 51.4572; -0.9702
Type	Local museum
Public transit access	Reading railway station
Website	readingmuseum.org.uk

Reading Museum (run by the Reading Museum Service) is a museum of the history of the town of Reading, in the English county of Berkshire, and the surrounding area. It is accommodated within Reading Town Hall, and contains galleries describing the history of Reading and its related industries, a gallery of artefacts discovered during the excavations of Calleva Atrebatum (Silchester Roman Town), a copy of the Bayeux Tapestry and an art collection.

Reading Town Hall was built in several phases between 1786 and 1897, although the principal facade was designed by Alfred Waterhouse in 1875. In 1879, the foundation stone was laid for a new wing containing a library and museum, and the museum duly opened in 1883. Three art galleries were added in further extension in 1897.

In 1975, the civic offices moved out of the Town Hall, to Reading Civic Centre followed in 1985 by the Reading Central Library, leaving only the museum and concert hall in use. After some debate, plans to demolish the Town Hall and replace it with a new cultural centre were dropped, and in 1986 refurbishment of the building started. The museum was closed for renewal in 1989, reopening in stages from 1993 (the Reading: People & Place gallery) to 2000.

The Reading: People & Place gallery documents Reading's history, from its origins as a Saxon settlement in the 6th century up to today, with a mixture of oral history presentations, interactive displays and a mix of real objects from the period.

The Silchester Gallery features many archeological finds from the excavations conducted at the nearby Calleva Atrebatum (Silchester Roman Town) together with explanatory models and other information on life in the Roman town. This includes the bronze Silchester Eagle that was immortalized by Rosemary Sutcliff in her children’s book The Eagle of the Ninth.