Combe Temperance Reading Room and Coffee House was built with funds raised by Adela Brooke of Combe House and was formally opened in August 1892. Like the Old Vicarage in Combe, it was designed by the well-known Oxford architect Harry Wilkinson Moore, whose uncle William Wilkinson planned the Randolph Hotel in the city. The Reading Room, as it is now known, was constructed using high-quality bricks produced at the Blenheim Estate brickworks on the fringes of the parish. Referred to as ‘Institute’ it is mentioned on p. 553 of the 1974 edition of the Oxford volume of Pevsner’sThe Buildings of England.
Within a year of its opening, the Reading Room had 120 members, exclusively men to begin with. The men and older boys of the village had the use of a games room, a reading room and library, a skittle alley and a kitchen to provide tea, coffee and light refreshments. Ladies were permitted to attend entertainment evenings and, for many, the Reading Room soon became the centre of village life.
Today the building, which is looked after by its resident caretaker, is regularly used by a great many villagers. It hosts Parish Council meetings, exercise classes, meetings of the Women’s Institute, children’s parties, fund-raising events including cream teas in July and August, and serves as the local polling station. It has also been designated as the Emergency Centre by the Parish Council in the event of a major emergency affecting the village.
The Reading Room now belongs to the Church Commissioners who lease it at a peppercorn rent for thirty-five years (renewable) to a village-based management committee known as the Combe Reading Room (2005) Trust (registered charity no.1114969).
Updated 10 July 2024
Within a year of its opening, the Reading Room had 120 members, exclusively men to begin with. The men and older boys of the village had the use of a games room, a reading room and library, a skittle alley and a kitchen to provide tea, coffee and light refreshments. Ladies were permitted to attend entertainment evenings and, for many, the Reading Room soon became the centre of village life.
Today the building, which is looked after by its resident caretaker, is regularly used by a great many villagers. It hosts Parish Council meetings, exercise classes, meetings of the Women’s Institute, children’s parties, fund-raising events including cream teas in July and August, and serves as the local polling station. It has also been designated as the Emergency Centre by the Parish Council in the event of a major emergency affecting the village.
The Reading Room now belongs to the Church Commissioners who lease it at a peppercorn rent for thirty-five years (renewable) to a village-based management committee known as the Combe Reading Room (2005) Trust (registered charity no.1114969).
Updated 10 July 2024