Binstead Reading Rooms - Institute
On the corner of Pitts Lane and Binstead Hill stands what was once Binstead Reading Rooms and Institute.
The Reading Room was erected in 1893 by Lieut. Henry Gartside-Tippinge, in memory of his uncle, the Rev Vernon Tippinge, of of Quarr Wood Lodge, Binstead. It was built by Mr. Edwin James, of Binstead, to the design of Mr. C. Pemberton Leach, A.R.I.B.A. There had previously been a Reading Room in Binstead for some four or five years maintained by public subscription.[1]
The 1898 OS map shows it was Reading Rooms, later, 1907 to 1939, it is referred to as the Institute and 1968 as a Hall.
In 1979 the building was acquired at public auction by Island Bakeries for £13,000 to 'solve a space problem'. The trustees of the Institute would put the proceeds towards the building of a new Binstead Community Centre.[2]
