What lies beneath the Reading Gaol tarmac?
Key parts of Reading Abbey’s remains lie under the site of the old gaol. Why is the Ministry of Justice hiding its plans for the prison, and refusing to publish its archaeological excavations? David Harrison has been trying to find out
Reading Prison was designed by George Gilbert Scott around 1842 in a picturesque, castellated style, inspired by Warwick Castle, and was built over the eastern parts of Reading Abbey. In 1973, with a disregard for historic architecture typical of the time, the original prison wall and its splendid towers were demolished, and a new wall built to the east of the old one. This created space for an officers’ carpark, sited over the former east end of the abbey church and next to the abbey’s standing ruins.
Over the following decades these ruins and the surrounding area had a chequered history, as Tim TattonBrown describes in the preceding article. The prison’s closure in November 2013 presented important opportunities for discovering more about the abbey remains. While the Borough Council’s Reading Abbey
Revealed project focused on what has survived above ground, the Hidden Abbey project aims to explore Henry i’s burial place and the abbey’s belowground evidence. The council is coordinating the project with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portsmouth and the Ministry of Justice, the other principal public landowners. Other project members include Darlow Smithson Productions and Philippa Langley, who together made tv films about the excavation of
Richard iii’s grave, and the Friends of Reading Abbey.
The people of Reading and the council are naturally very interested in the future of the prison. In 2013, a group from Reading’s business and art communities formed Theatre & Arts Reading ( tar) with the aim of finding a new theatre and arts venue for the town. Following the closure of the prison, tar, chaired by Melvin Benn, announced its interest in using Reading Gaol for this venture and later unveiled a detailed vision, including an Oscar Wilde Museum. tar also hopes to remove parts of the prison’s exterior walls to open the site to the abbey ruins and the River Kennet.
However, nothing has yet happened. In November 2015, George Osborne, then chancellor of the exchequer, and Michael Gove, secretary of state for justice, announced that Reading and other redundant prisons would be sold for housing to fund new prisons. To check what lay under the site (and presumably what obstacles to development there might be), in 2016 hm Prisons & Probation Service commissioned mola to undertake trial trenches on the prison estate. The site of one made in the carpark, across the abbey’s eastern apse, can be seen from the abbey grounds through the metal fence between them, marked by fresh tarmac. However, no public discussion followed, and nothing has been published about what was found.
I submitted a freedom of information ( foi) request to see the excavation report and correspondence related to it. In response, hm Prisons, an agency of the Ministry of Justice
( moj), admitted excavations had taken place but refused to release the report. The reply seemed scarcely credible. The public interest was best served by getting the best price for the site, it was claimed, and this was done by ensuring the bidders and public did not know what the excavation had revealed:
Disclosure of the internal documents could potentially have a detrimental impact on
Reading Prison is a great asset to the town. It is well known in Britain and around the world as the place where Oscar Wilde was imprisoned; it is also the burial place of King Henry I and contains other important archaeological remains and it is an important historic building designed by one of our greatest Victorian architects. Matt Rodda, MP for Reading East
the potential revenues from the sale of the site and not ensure best value for money for the taxpayer.
Surprised and dissatisfied, I took the next step available when an foi request is rejected, and applied for an internal review. The reply again stated that the public interest lay in getting the best price, and this meant keeping everyone in ignorance (to paraphrase), but the explanation was more detailed, and showed the wide-ranging grounds under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 to refuse access to an archaeological report. Publication could also prevent officials from giving frank advice, and might encourage people to damage the site:
There is a public interest in public authorities being able to have the safe space to develop ideas… and reach decisions in relation to [the prison site’s] disposal away from external interference and distraction. Disclosure of the report and draft findings between officials in relation to this land could affect the free and frank exchange of views. ( Regulation 12(4)(d) Material in the course of completion, unfinished documents and incomplete data)
Getting the best possible receipt from the sale of a surplus asset is… in the best interests of the taxpayer. The proceeds from the sale of the department’s property assets are re-invested in the moj’s prison reform programmes and to release the archaeological report and associated correspondence could prejudice its ability to maximise return… ( Regulation 12(5)(e) of the eir (the confidentiality of commercial or industrial information))
There is a risk that by prematurely disclosing the report before the two-year period an individual would seek to interfere with a protected site. ( Regulation 12(5)(g) – the protection of the environment to which the information relates)
On the other hand, the review decided that correspondence from Historic England could be released. The letter shows that on July 15 2016 it had granted scheduled monument consent for “trial trenching”.
I have now appealed to the information commissioner. This can be a lengthy process, but I hope she will decide that the public interest lies in publication of the report and not just in getting the best price for the site. However, there is a danger that in the meantime the site will be disposed of away from the public gaze, and, disgracefully, without a full public discussion. In the absence of their publication, the suspicion must be that mola’s trial excavations revealed interesting archaeological material which it was thought might discourage developers.
The people of Reading and Reading Council are dissatisfied. In July 2018, a report to the council stressed that the prison site was key to the success of the Abbey Quarter and to the town’s “cultural offer” and reputation. The council in principle endorsed tar’s ambition and welcomed its Vision of Opportunities plan for the development of a new cultural and heritage centre. Reading councillors expressed their frustration:
We continue to urge the moj to break their silence on Reading Prison and tell Reading what progress – if any – has been made on a sale of the site. Reading Prison is far too important a building to the town to be left sitting empty, and local people should have a say in its future. (Cllr Sarah Hacker, Reading Council’s lead member for culture, heritage and recreation)
Matt Rodda, mp for Reading East, is calling for the moj to rethink its approach. He firmly believes that the public interest is not served by selling off the site to a commercial developer for the highest price, but by developing it in a way which enhances the Abbey Quarter. He is campaigning for the site to become an arts hub and Wilde Museum, with thorough archaeological excavation and re-uniting the carpark with Abbey Gardens.
While progress has been disappointing, if the moj can finally become a helpful partner, the tremendous cultural and archaeological opportunities of the site could be realised. Funding is needed to develop a desk-based assessment. This would build on work such as the detailed historical researches of Brian Kemp and Cecil Slade’s excavation in the 1970s. Together with the ground-penetrating radar work undertaken by the Hidden Abbey Project (this found little in the nave area but more at the east end) and the results of the mola trial trenches, it would be possible to develop an evidence-based proposal for thorough archaeological excavations – not only in the carpark but in accessible parts of the prison which might reveal the footings of the abbey infirmary and other buildings.
Work could even begin by 2021, the abbey’s 900th anniversary. If this happens, we can carry on dreaming: the east end foundations in the carpark can become part of the abbey grounds; openings can be made in the prison walls (listed but many dating from the 1970s) to link the prison itself to the abbey; and the royal burial sites may at last be revealed.
David Harrison is a retired House of Commons clerk and medieval historian with a special interest in ancient structures