Queen Victoria Street is a

pedestrianised Pedestrian zones (also known as auto-free zones and car-free zones, as pedestrian precincts in British English, and as pedestrian malls in the United States and Australia) are areas of a city or town restricted to use by people on foot or ...

thoroughfare A thoroughfare is a primary passage or way of transport, whether by road on dry land or, by extension, via watercraft or aircraft. Originally, the word referred to a main road or open street which was frequented thoroughly. Different terms *Roa ...

in the English town of

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Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

. It connects Broad Street with Friar Street and Station Road.

History

Queen Victoria Street is a relatively new street in the history of Reading, being constructed in the early years of the 20th century to provide a direct route from Broad Street to Station Road and hence Reading's railway station, which had opened in 1840. The road was the work of Councillor J.C. Fidler, a local businessman who was also responsible for the rebuilding of West Street, the construction of the Market Arcade, and the acquisition of

Prospect Park Prospect Park may refer to: Businesses * Prospect Park (production company), entertainment production company *Prospect Park Productions NZ, theatre company based in Dunedin, New Zealand Places New Zealand * Prospect Park, New Zealand, a portion ...

for the town. Queen Victoria Street was nearing completion in 1903, when Councilor Fidler died. The building of the street involved the demolition of several properties on both Friar Street and Broad Street. These included Laud Place, a block of tenements built in 1813 on the site where

William Laud William Laud (; 7 October 1573 – 10 January 1645) was a bishop in the Church of England. Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury by Charles I of England, Charles I in 1633, Laud was a key advocate of Caroline era#Religion, Charles I's religious re ...

, the

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executed for

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during the

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, was born in 1573.

References

External links

{{Commons category Shopping streets in Reading, Berkshire