Blue plaque for Auction House in Wokingham
The Wokingham Society has placed a blue plaque on the frontage of the Martin & Pole Auction Rooms at 10 Milton Road, Wokingham, to commemorate their original use as a school founded by the Baptist church for non-conformist members of the community. In 1836 church members decided that 'provision should be made for the daily instruction of children of dissenting parents whose poverty prevents them from supplying a means for their education' and consequently the British School was built in Milton Road and opened in 1841.
With the advent of state education the trustees converted the rooms for use as a Sunday school and this remained the building's purpose until it was sold in the1990s and has since been used by Martin & Pole as its auction house.
The new plaque was formally installed on Monday 29 March 2010 by members of the Wokingham Society Committee, David Auger, Senior Partner, and Garth Lewis, Auctioneer, Martin & Pole, and Rev Lynn Green, Meg Goswell, David Nixon and Robert Wilkie from the Baptist Church.
The Wokingham Society has placed a number of blue plaques on significant and interesting buildings around the town, this latest one bringing the total to 11. The Society has produced a full-colour 'Blue Plaque Trail Guide' to show the location of the plaques and explain what they commemorate. Copies are available from the Wokingham Town Hall Information Centre or by going to the 'Achievements' page of this website and clicking the Blue Plaque Trail link.
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