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BÜADINO DÎBBCTORÏ— 1919.

11

mission hall was opened in W h itley street at a cost, including the site,
of £6,846.
The H ebrew Synagogue was opened in Novem ber, 1900, by the lato
Lord Swaythling, and consecrated by the late V ery Rev. 'D r. Hermann
Adler L L .D . Chief Rabbi, and D r. Herm ann Gollancz M .A ., D .L it.
The building, of which the principal entrance is in Goldsmid road,
Russell street, is of brick and stone in the Moresque style, and has
a domed flèche on the roof. The interior has a beautiful effect,
heightened by stained glass windows ; the seats are of polished oak,
while the design of The A rk is in white, on the east side of which
are the wardens’ pews ; it has since been registered as a place of worship
and licensed to solemnize marriages.
Reading Cemetery, situated at the junction of the London and W ok in g­
ham roads, established in 1842, under the provisions of the A c t 5 and 6
Viet. c. O IX . occupies 12 acres of land, 8 of which are consecrated, and
the remainder appropriated to dissenters ; it has two mortuary chapels
and a residence for the curator.
The municipal buildings, which include the T ow n H all, Council
Chamber and other municipal offices, Public Library, Museums and A rt
Galleries, are situated in F riar street, B lagrave street and V a lp y street,
and form a pile of black and red brick, w ith a clock tower, in the Gothio
style, the municipal buildings proper having been erected in 1875,
from designs by A lfred Waterhouse esq. R .A . and the remaining
portion (begun in 1879) completed and opened M a y 31, 1882, from the
designs of Thomas Lainson esq. of Brighton. The niche in the gable
over the library is filled with a m arble statue of H er Majesty
Queen Victoria, presented b y the late W illia m Isaac Palm er esq. of
Grazeley Court.
The principal entrance in B lagrave street leads to
the main corridor or vestibule, 15ft. wide b y 79ft. long at the
north end of which is a memorial stone, recording on an attached
brass plate the foundation of the structure. The Great H all, 60ft. wide,
37ft. long and 50 ft. high, is entered on the west side b v five large door­
ways, and w ill hold 1,500 persons. T h e orchestra is placed at the east
end of the hall, and contains an organ presented by the Reading P h il­
harmonic Society. The hall has balconies round the north, south and
west sides, and its walls are divided into panels b y fluted pilasters, with
moulded bases and gilt capitals; over this is an enriched frieze, and
above a heavy cornice, from which spring the ornamental ribs of the
ceiling ; beneath the hall is a supper room w ith retiring rooms. On the
walls of the Council chamber and in other parts of the buildings are
portraits of M r. Richard A ldw orth, founder of the Blue Coat school ; Sir
Thomas W hite, Lord M ayor of London in 1553, born at Reading in
1492 ; Sir Thomas Rich bart. of Sonning, ob. 13 Oct. 1667 ; Archbishop
Laud, executed 10 Jan. 1645; W . Stephens esq. H ig h Sheriff ; M r. John
Kendrick, a local benefactor, ob. 1624 ; and Sir Thomas N o on Talfourd
kt. some time M .P . for Reading, and Justice of the Common Pleas, who
died on the Bench at Stafford, 13 March, 1854, while delivering his charge
to the Grand Jury ; M r. Isaac Harrison, ''surgeon, late of Reading ;
and the late M r. W illia m Isaac Palm er, well known as a
advocate and philanthropist, who contributed about £25,000 towards
the new public buildings.
The municipal insignia include a maco,
mayor's chain and badge, warden’s badges, tw o tipped staves, a loving
and other cups and borough seals. The mace, of silver gilt, is 4ffc. 2 Jin.
long and has a plain staff w ith richly ornamented kneps and a la rr
spreading foot knop, w ith an inscription and tho duto 1770 : f.

temperance