The Oracle is Reading’s State of the art Shopping Centre. It takes its name from a 17th century workhouse built by funds from a local man John Kendrick that once occupied a small part of the site now occupied by the shopping centre.
The Shopping Centre was built in 1997 on a largely derelict and undeveloped site to the south of the town centre. This site had previously housed Courage brewing company and the Reading bus depot (formerly the Reading Corporation tram depot).
The main shopping centre was opened in September 1999.
In 2002 Reading was named the eighth best town centre in the country. In 2007 the Oracle centre was placed 16th in a league table of best performing retail centres in the UK compiled by Experian. In another poll by Verdict, Reading was placed 10th in the table of UK top shopping destinations.
The Oracle is now part of the attractive modern Reading, and the shopping centre itself is an architectural marvel as it shows both the history of the town and the previous occupiers of the land on many commemorative plaques and sculptures and has the River Kennet snaking through its centre.