How did it happen? The development and redevelopment of Huntley & Palmers biscuit factory (1800-2000)

Doak, J. (2026) How did it happen? The development and redevelopment of Huntley & Palmers biscuit factory (1800-2000). PhD thesis, University of Reading. doi: 10.48683/1926.00128300

Abstract/Summary

This thesis explores the development and redevelopment of the Huntley & Palmers (H&P) Biscuit Factory in Reading (England) between the years 1800 and 2000. In examining how different theoretical ideas conceptualise property development, it selects an assemblage lens to explore the available empirical material. This evidence is ‘cut’ in two different ways: firstly (in Chapter 5) through a linear description of the various phases of factory development and redevelopment and then (in Chapters 6 and 7) by analysing in a more non-linear way the components and processes of the H&P factory assemblage. The research uncovers and explores a range of human and non-human components having affect on the development and redevelopment processes involved, from members of the Palmer family to decorated biscuit tins and the persistent risk of fire. Taking an assemblage view also draws attention to how the H&P factory was shaped by other assemblages (such as the Great Western Railway, Reading Town and capitalist market assemblages), which the H&P factory assemblage ‘attached’ itself to. These components were assembled to achieve an evolving set of desires centred around the mechanisation, modernisation and automation of biscuit making. Processes of territorialisation, deterritorialisation and reterritorialisation are identified and evaluated while patterns of coding are linked to the power relations embedded in, and articulated through, the assemblage. The thesis concludes by responding the question set in the thesis title and suggests that the H&P biscuit factory was assembled and re-assembled through a combination of processes operating in relation to a multiplicity of heterogeneous components. The research undertaken confirms the potentialities of assemblage theory for the analysis (and positive shaping) of urban change but raises questions that could be addressed by future research.

Item Type	Thesis (PhD)
URI	https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/id/eprint/128300
Identification Number/DOI	10.48683/1926.00128300
Divisions	Henley Business School > Real Estate and Planning
Date on Title Page	December 2025
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