150th Anniversary Celebrations

150 years of Literary and Social Enjoyment in Billericay.

On the 7th, 8th and 9th March 2014 the Billericay Reading Rooms celebrated their 150th anniversary with a Victorian Event which was open by John Baron MP. All the Trustees dressed in Victorian costume and they were joined by children from 4 local schools, Buttsbury Junior, Quilters Junior, St. John's and St. Peter's, also in period dress.

The school children produced displays about Billericay in the 19th Century, a newspaper, wall-hangings, models of high street houses and shops, made various types of chocolate to be sampled and a display of needlework and slates similar to those used in schools of the period. They were happy to discuss what they had learned and answer questions about their displays.

One of the high lights of the weekend was the Victorian Cakes and Biscuits, baked from original recipes of the period, for every one to sample. Copies of the recipes were available to try at home.

It was a lovely weekend blessed with superb weather, lots of laughter and enjoyment for the children who learnt so much about their town Billericay in the 19th Century.

The Heritage Lottery Fund had generously provided the grant which allowed the Rooms to celebrate the original idea made by the original group of gentlemen, professionals and tradesmen 150 years ago to provide learning and social facilities for the local residents.

See more photos of the event by selecting 'Photo Album' from the left column

Four Billericay schools visited the Cater Museum in the High Street and then undertook projects to celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the Reading Rooms.  After the event, Keith Wood, Chairman of the Reading Rooms Management Trustees and Andy Maddocks, another Trustee, visited the schools involved to  present the pupils with souvenir tea towels depicting the pupils' comments regarding the Cater Museum. Here are some of the photos of the occasion.