Reading Museum Marks 60th Anniversary of Town’s Digital Revolution

19th March 2025

Reading’s transformation from a town known for beer, bulbs and biscuits, to one famous for digital industries is being marked at a new Reading Museum exhibition which opens to the public on Tuesday 18 March 2025.

Sixty years ago, a young American computer company called Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) opened its first office at 11 Castle Street. Beginning with just two employees, DEC grew exponentially with a workforce of more than 2,000, setting the scene for Reading to become an ICT key player in the UK and playing a pivotal role in the region's technological transformation.

Funded by a grant of £87,145 from The National Lottery Heritage Fund and hosted in partnership with National Museum of Computing, Reading Museum’s DIGITAL Revolution exhibition traces the birth of the town’s famous information and communication technology industry.

Since the arrival of the DEC in 1964, Reading has evolved into one of the largest tech clusters in the UK, with more than 11K ICT businesses calling the greater Reading area home. DEC is recognised as one of the leaders in computing equipment development and manufacture. By 1988 it was named the second largest computer company in the world. DEC was acquired in 1998 by Compaq, in what was at that time the largest merger in the history of the computer industry.

Reading Museum’s DIGITAL Revolution exhibition includes the DEC talk voice synthesizer famously used by Stephen Hawking whose account was with Reading DEC.

To mark the launch of the exhibition on Monday (17 March), representatives from Reading’s technology sector and Councillors will be joined by a very special guest, 90-year-old John Leng, who was founder of DEC in Reading in 1964. Mr Leng is travelling all the way from the USA to attend the formal opening of the exhibition by Sir John Madejski, in the Sir John Madejski Gallery.

Other exhibition highlights include:

• Unique collection of rare and vintage computing equipment on loan exclusively to Reading Museum from Bletchley Park’s National Museum of Computing and gathered from private collectors across the UK
• Power of the spoken word; a video wall installation featuring reflections on the growth of Reading’s ICT industry from key figures in Reading’s digital story
• Nostalgic collections of familiar computing equipment such as the ZX Spectrum
• Innovative digital artwork created by emerging Reading fine artist, Jessica Brauner, accompanied by an original large-scale mural of Reading in the future; as imagined by renowned visual artist Justin Eagleton
• Collection of products and memorabilia on loan from a range of leading ICT companies based in Reading today.

Adele Barnett-Ward, Reading Borough Council’s Lead Councillor for Leisure and Culture, said: "This exhibition is  exceptional, honouring the legacy of DEC and ensuring its impact on Reading's history is preserved for future generations. We’re very pleased DEC UK founder John Leng can join us for the opening too. I’d encourage residents to come along to the Reading DIGITAL Revolution exhibition over the next few months. The exhibition shares the town’s untold hi-tech history and explores ideas about how an unfolding digital revolution is influencing Reading’s present and future.”

Stuart McLeod, Director of England - London & South at The National Lottery Heritage Fund, said: “We are delighted to support this project, which thanks to money raised by National Lottery players, will mean that more people will be able to get involved with, protect, and learn about the exciting heritage right on their doorstep. Heritage has a huge role to play in instilling pride in communities and boosting local economies, and this project is a fantastic example of achieving those aims.”

The Reading DIGITAL Revolution exhibition opens to the public Tuesday 18 March and runs until 24 December 2025.