Who's in the steering group?

Councillor Sarah Hacker - Mayor 2015/2016 and chair of the Art and Heritage Forum.  Sarah has a considerable interest in the history of Reading having learned about Henry I while at Wilson Primary School.  She became involved in the project while deputy mayor and has lent her support throughout her mayoralty. She has been interested in archaeology since she was a teenager and is very keen to see what the Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) discovers.  She spent many happy days in the abbey ruins as a child, and even had her wedding photos take there, so is looking forward to the abbey reopening as part of the Abbey Quarter project.


Councillor Tony Page - Deputy Leader of Reading Borough Council and lead for SustainableEnvironment, Transport and Planning.

Philippa Langley MBE is a writer / producer who led the 2012 search for Richard III through her original Looking For Richard Project. Having conceived and commissioned the search for King Richard, she has since co-authored two books: The King’s Grave: The Search for Richard III (2013), and Finding Richard III: The Official Account (2014) which details the research behind her search project that got Philippa to the northern end of the Social Services car park in Leicester. In 2015, she was awarded an MBE by HM The Queen for ‘Services to the Exhumation and Identification of Richard III’. Philippa originated and facilitated the Hidden Abbey Project for the historic town and people of Reading.

For more information, please visit: www.philippalangley.co.uk

John Mullaney is a local historian who has written several books about the Abbey Quarter. He is a retired teacher and bookseller and still keeps his hand in as a publisher. Following his passion for history, especially that of the local community, he enjoys giving talks about the places and people of Reading. The 'Hidden Abbey Project' is an exciting venture which he initiated along with Philippa Langley, Canon O' Shea and his wife Lindsay. Whatever the geophysics search turns up, there can be no doubting the increased interest that the project has created in the public imagination about Henry I, his role in founding Reading Abbey and the mystery surrounding his burial.

Lindsay Mullaney's interest in Reading Abbey stems from being a parishioner of St James' church in the Ruins, and a member of the parish Heritage Group. She is a retired modern languages teacher and bookseller. With her husband John she set up Scallop Shell Press to publish works on local and church history. Her research into Henry I has led her to give talks about him to local history groups and to act as historical advisor to the Reading between the Lines theatre company.