History
Built in the Tudor Gothic style, Railway workers at Great Western Railway paid for and owned the building ,the Mechanics’ Institute is a grand, Grade II* listed building, and a fine example of its kind. It was built as a social and community centre for staff of the Great Western Railway, providing them with facilities they would otherwise have had little access to. It opened in 1855 with reading, lecture and refreshment rooms as well as a market hall and shops. The building also incorporated baths, which were removed in 1864.
There were plans for a new theatre on the site in the location of the market hall in 1878, but this did not proceed. However, the building was adapted and extended in 1892. The market hall was demolished and replaced by an extension, which included a reading room, smoking room, billiards room at ground floor level, and extra dressing rooms for the existing theatre / lecture hall at first-floor level. On christmas eve 1930 the centre of the building was badly damaged by fire and the first-floor hall was rebuilt as a theatre, with an enlarged stage. It was a pretty theatre with an elaborate proscenium and (unusually for its kind) a flytower.
In the 1960s British Rail was nationalised and the Mechanics’ Institution merged with the British Rail Staff Association.
The library moved to the town centre and in 1976 the theatre closed.
The entire building closed in 1986 and owners British Rail tried to sell it.
After a number of sales, plans were put in and approved for a hotel in 1990, but nothing came of the scheme.
Through the 1990s the building stood empty and behind a protective fence
The Mechanics’ Institution Trust was formed in 1999 with 1,400 members. English Heritage, upgraded the building’s listing to Grade II* and added it to the Buildings at Risk Register.
In 2003 the building was sold to Matthew Singh for £500,000.
Four years later The Victorian Society put it on its list of the 10 most at-risk Victorian and Edwardian buildings.
A second planning application – this time for a hotel, flats and a business centre – was approved and work started but was never completed.
Since then, the institute has continued to deteriorate with an ongoing wrangle between
Mr Singh and the council over emergency work and who should pay for it.
The Explore
Have known about the mechanics for quite a while but never bothered to go check it out even though its fairly local, this is because I was always under the impression that it was just an empty shell full of scaffolding.
However it wasn't until recently that I found out that this is not the case, its mostly just the main auditorium which made it incredibly hard to photograph.
There is also scaffolding propping up others areas of the building but this is very minimal which is good because its absolutely fantastic inside with so many original period features left there is just so much to see like the original tiling in the hallways, seating still in place at the top of the auditorium, the theatrical rigging system still in place and so much more..
It really is a fantastic place but parts are in a bad way and absolutely caked in pigeon shit which was pretty nasty, also right at the very top work had started for it to be converted in to apartments but for unknown reasons work grounded to a halt many years ago. Now just left to be vandalised there is also random materials left behind, from wooden interior doors still sat there collecting dust, bags of plaster starting to rot away, and boxes of tiles scattered around the place.
Hopefully something can be done with this stunning building soon as it wont be long before it is completely full of scaffolding!
Built in the Tudor Gothic style, Railway workers at Great Western Railway paid for and owned the building ,the Mechanics’ Institute is a grand, Grade II* listed building, and a fine example of its kind. It was built as a social and community centre for staff of the Great Western Railway, providing them with facilities they would otherwise have had little access to. It opened in 1855 with reading, lecture and refreshment rooms as well as a market hall and shops. The building also incorporated baths, which were removed in 1864.
There were plans for a new theatre on the site in the location of the market hall in 1878, but this did not proceed. However, the building was adapted and extended in 1892. The market hall was demolished and replaced by an extension, which included a reading room, smoking room, billiards room at ground floor level, and extra dressing rooms for the existing theatre / lecture hall at first-floor level. On christmas eve 1930 the centre of the building was badly damaged by fire and the first-floor hall was rebuilt as a theatre, with an enlarged stage. It was a pretty theatre with an elaborate proscenium and (unusually for its kind) a flytower.
In the 1960s British Rail was nationalised and the Mechanics’ Institution merged with the British Rail Staff Association.
The library moved to the town centre and in 1976 the theatre closed.
The entire building closed in 1986 and owners British Rail tried to sell it.
After a number of sales, plans were put in and approved for a hotel in 1990, but nothing came of the scheme.
Through the 1990s the building stood empty and behind a protective fence
The Mechanics’ Institution Trust was formed in 1999 with 1,400 members. English Heritage, upgraded the building’s listing to Grade II* and added it to the Buildings at Risk Register.
In 2003 the building was sold to Matthew Singh for £500,000.
Four years later The Victorian Society put it on its list of the 10 most at-risk Victorian and Edwardian buildings.
A second planning application – this time for a hotel, flats and a business centre – was approved and work started but was never completed.
Since then, the institute has continued to deteriorate with an ongoing wrangle between
Mr Singh and the council over emergency work and who should pay for it.
The Explore
Have known about the mechanics for quite a while but never bothered to go check it out even though its fairly local, this is because I was always under the impression that it was just an empty shell full of scaffolding.
However it wasn't until recently that I found out that this is not the case, its mostly just the main auditorium which made it incredibly hard to photograph.
There is also scaffolding propping up others areas of the building but this is very minimal which is good because its absolutely fantastic inside with so many original period features left there is just so much to see like the original tiling in the hallways, seating still in place at the top of the auditorium, the theatrical rigging system still in place and so much more..
It really is a fantastic place but parts are in a bad way and absolutely caked in pigeon shit which was pretty nasty, also right at the very top work had started for it to be converted in to apartments but for unknown reasons work grounded to a halt many years ago. Now just left to be vandalised there is also random materials left behind, from wooden interior doors still sat there collecting dust, bags of plaster starting to rot away, and boxes of tiles scattered around the place.
Hopefully something can be done with this stunning building soon as it wont be long before it is completely full of scaffolding!
