History
The building of the Reading Room which opened on 2nd June 1864 was funded at a cost of £546.40 by Mrs Frances Rayley in memory of her husband Captain Rayley RN who died in May 1863 and was buried in the family vault in Lee in London.
Captain Rayley was born in London in 1780 and entered the Royal Navy as a captain’s Servant in 1793 through a process which could allow progression to receive a commission. He retired in 1813 with the rank of Commander and was promoted to captain on the retired list in 1851.
Captain Rayley was a wealthy man who lived for part of his later life in Southwold on the corner of Lorne Road in the house now known as May Place. Whilst living in Southwold he was involved with a number of local organisations including being the Chairman of Southwold Union Book Club. His wife decided that building a reading room in Southwold would be a suitable memorial to her husband.
The original purpose of the Reading Room was to provide a place for sailors and fishermen to meet, read and chat rather than spend the time and money in one of the many pubs in Southwold. When the Reading Room opened the then caretaker’s house, now known as Reading Room Cottage, was part of the property and members were allowed to use the outside WC behind that house.
During the first 100 years, ownership of the property changed hands four times and finally in 1972, two generous local sisters, Miss Nancy Fox and Mrs Joan Philpot, purchased the Reading Room building, excluding the cottage, and the charity Southwold Sailors Reading Room was formed.
The original interior design included a partition which would have allowed flexible usage with the room being able to be split in two if required. Currently, the interior is split into two rooms but the partition is now fixed with the inner room being reserved for members and is the location of the snooker table which has been in place since 1901.
Whilst the Reading Room does still have a number of rules about its use, and an annual membership fee, the rules are more relaxed than in the past as can be seen here: Rules of the Southwold Reading Room.
