Riverside Museum at Blake's Lock

Riverside Museum at Blake's Lock

Reading's museum of industrial heritage features reconstructions of a Victorian printing shop, a bakery, barber's shop, gypsy caravan. and turbines dating from the 1920s. The museum tells the story of the two rivers which meet in Reading; the Kennet and the Thames.

The museum is located at Blake's Lock and occupies a pair of 19th-century buildings used by a Victorian pumping station, Turbine House and Screen House. The latter building showcases a gypsy caravan and an exhibition of gypsy life.

The caravan was built by the local firm of Dunton and Sons in 1914. The style is known as a 'Ledge' design because the body extends out beyond the wheels. It was very popular with gypsies because it travelled well on rough roads. The caravan is highly decorated, with green and gold paint, and furnished to illustrate what life on the road was like for a gypsy family.

In addition, learn about life by the river, with artefacts from a regatta ticket to a medieval mill wheel discovered during the building of a nearby supermarket.

The striking Turbine House actually spans the River Kennet and gives views along the waterway into the centre of Reading. Within the building are historic turbine machinery. The Turbine House also hosts art exhibits and special events.