14 Blakes Lock Museum

13 Huntley and Palmers

The park opposite was given to Reading by the owners of one of the towns main industries, Huntley and Palmers. For many years Huntley and Palmers made biscuits in the town and their factory covered an enormous area north of the Kennet. The factory was so big that it even had its own railway system, as well as conveyor belts carrying biscuits across the river. The river itself was used for water and for transporting the biscuits with less danger of them becoming broken.

The factory at Kings Road was opened in 1851 with two hundred people employed. By 1861 400 people were working in the factory, by 1868 a thousand, and by 1914 six thousand. With the growth of the biscuit factory new houses had to be built for the workers. On the south bank of the canal large numbers of houses were built in Newtown and Redlands, many of which housed Huntley and Palmer workers. Biscuit making finished at Huntley and Palmers in 1977, although the head office of the company remained on the site for some years. Now a large office block is on the site of the headquarters. Indeed, this is only one of several office blocks in this area.