Mystery donor poised to help buy Reading Gaol
Reading Council £2.6m offer to the government had previously been turned down for being too low
Last updated 22nd Nov 2021
Mystery figures from the arts world could be set to donate several millions of pounds to back the campaign to save the Reading Gaol.
In a letter to Justice Minister Dominic Raab, Reading East MP Matt Rodda mentions a potential multi-million-pound offer from unnamed donors could top up the council’s £2.6 million bid to buy the prison and turn it into an arts and heritage centre.
Mr Rodda is calling on the Government to work with the arts community so the council can be successful in its bid.
As well as drawing Mr Raab’s attention to the potential offer, he says: “I’m writing to ask for your help to save Reading Gaol and turn it into an arts hub.
“There is significant support to redevelop the site and use it for the arts and heritage because of its connection to Oscar Wilde and because it is the burial place of King Henry I, whose tomb is believed to sit among the ruins of Reading Abbey beneath the gaol.”
The reported potential injection of funding from well-known figures in the arts community comes amid the Ministry of Justice’s second attempt to sell the prison.
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) is currently assessing new bids to buy the Reading Gaol site and redevelop it after developer Artisan Real Estate pulled out of plans to buy the prison last year.
RBC was given a period of exclusivity to develop a bid for the site earlier this year. However, the MoJ was not enamoured enough with the offer to go for it there and then but has kept the bid on the table to consider it among other offers.
Responding to Mr Rodda, prisons minister Victoria Atkins said
“no revised bid has been received from the council following remarketing” and the council’s original bid “remains on the table and will be considered alongside the other bids that have been received”.
The council’s Reading Gaol plan includes a heritage centre celebrating its history and archaeology, a space for theatre, dance, music, cinema and outdoor exhibitions, public spaces, a creative innovation hub, rooftop café, and housing.
RBC leader Jason Brock said the council’s bid for Reading Gaol “has widespread support, both from within the community here in Reading and from the wider arts, heritage and cultural community, all of whom recognise its huge historical and cultural value”.
He said the monetary value of the bid has been verified by independent experts and remains on the table.
The council “want to work with the MoJ to ensure the historical and cultural value of the site is given rightful prominence in any future development”.
Cllr Brock added: “We have also made very clear we would welcome – indeed, we actively encourage – alternative bids to the MoJ which seek to achieve that, whether that be from community organisations or members of the wider arts and cultural community.
“If any such future offer does emerge, it would only serve to show the strength of feeling to transform the prison into something truly special for Reading.”
Who could be the mystery figures behind the proposed offer?
Speculation surrounds the unconfirmed potential backers as several celebrities in the arts community have previously spoken out in support of the campaign to save Reading Gaol.
These include actors Dame Judi Dench, Sir Kenneth Branagh, Kate Winslet and Game of Thrones star Natalie Dormer, as well as national treasure Stephen Fry.
Reading Gaol also rose to further fame earlier this year when street artist Banksy painted a mural depicting Oscar Wilde escaping with a typewriter on the prison walls.
He revealed himself as the artist behind the work in a video posted on Instagram shortly after the street art was discovered.
Other celebrities in the arts world with ties to the town include comedian Ricky Gervais and TV’s Charlie Brooker, though neither have spoken out publically about the gaol campaign.