8 Castle Street

7 Bridge Street

Bridge Street was the original crossing point of the Kennet. It was here that the roads from all directions came to ford the many streams of the River Kennet. Later bridges were built to ease the journey. The seven streams of the Kennet (including the Holy Brook) were crossed by seven bridges, hence the old name of the street was Seven Bridge Street. This gave the finest building in the street its name. Seven Bridges House was built by Sir John Soane for William Simonds, and has recently been restored to its former glory after many years of being in poor repair.

The main stream of the Kennet which passes under the remaining bridge and now flows through the Oracle is one of the most difficult sections on the canal system. The brewery bought up the tow path, and the narrowness and serious bends in the river made it very difficult to pass through. This section was known as the Brewery Gut.

The Holy Brook is the most northerly of these streams and still runs at the northern end of Bridge Street; the only sign nowadays of its existence is the round grating in the pathway next to the modern office block. Holy Brook now runs underground for much of its journey through the centre of Reading and is occasionally visited by canoeists kayaking along its course. Some of the vaulting which covers the Holy Brook is thought to have come from Reading Abbey.

At the top of the Bridge Street the ground levels out. It is here, above the once boggy ground near the rivers, that the first recordings of settlement in Reading were recorded. Somewhere on this higher area, made out of gravel and thus dry, the invading Vikings camped in 871.