Oxfam Book Shop, Bank Chambers, 8 High Street, Reading RG1, 2015 • Tiled and turreted folly which apparently housed the first shop – opened 1875 – of Edward Jackson, who later created Reading’s famous department store, Jackson’s Corner, which only closed in 2013. There’s little info about this building on the internet, and I can’t find any clue that that it’s listed; the info on Edward Jackson’s tenure comes from the book Reading in 50 Buildings, by Stuart Hylton. It looks later than 1875 to me – Arts and Crafts verging on Art Nouveau – so maybe he is talking about a different building.
Number 8 high street was purchased by Edward Jackson in 1877 and housed his business whilst his original shop at 6 High Street was demolished to make way for Jacksons Corner. In 1902 he remodelled number 8 High Street to include the present frontage and became the Boot and Show branch
Thanks for the info!