Under West Berkshire Council’s process for local listing, five further heritage assets have been recommended for local listing by a Selection Panel held by the West Berkshire Heritage Forum on 22nd September 2016. The Selection Panel comprises eight independent heritage experts of whom six were present at the meeting.
Each local listing case was presented by a member of the respective local heritage society, by means of a standard submission form and photographs. The owners of each asset had been informed and were entitled to make a representation. The five heritage assets are:
- Pangbourne Police Station. Dated 1911 and in Neo-Georgian style, it is the only remaining Police Station of its period in Berkshire.
- Bridge House, 105b Northbrook Street, one of four late Georgian buildings (1791) at the corner of Newbury Bridge, and the only one not to be nationally listed. Like the other three, it incorporates an original bridge “shelter”. It was recommended both for group value and for its prominent central location.
- 58-59 Northbrook Street, Newbury, built in 1910 as Newbury Picture Palace and functioning as such until 1934. Its frontage is essentially unaltered. It was the second cinema in Newbury and is the only former cinema building of its period surviving in West Berkshire.
- Thatcham Water Pump, located opposite the entrance to Thatcham Broadway. It dates from about 1790 and was originally the town pump of Thatcham. It is in good condition for its age.
- Four water pumps located along the A4 in Thatcham, about 1800, probably intended to lay dust on the road along the historic route from London. They are missing their caps and handles but are rare survivals from the coaching age.
A sixth proposal, to locally list the White Hart at Hamstead Marshall, was deferred so that further research could be carried out on it.
The decision on whether to accept the five recommendations for local listing will be taken by the West Berkshire Council Head of Planning. 12 West Berkshire heritage assets have already been locally listed, of which one has since been listed nationally. Details can be found at
http://info.westberks.gov.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=39243&p=0
The six independent Panel members who took part were Gill Butter, Duncan Coe, David Evans, Tony Higgott, Christine Lalley, and Andrew Townsend.