Reading Observer reported that "several rumours were in circulation that a person connected with the case had committed suicide". Brisco supposedly used his wealth and social status to dissuade witnesses from testifying and the case was apparently abandoned. Brisco was eccentric and wealthy, and added a ballroom to the building in 1891, replacing a timber chapel. He also began construction of the house's distinctive tower the same year but died before it was complete and building work was abandoned. 20th century The manor of Southcote remained in the Blagrave family until the early 20th century, when it was owned by Henry Barry Blagrave. Henry died in 1927, though the manor house was demolished in 1921 after lying empty following the death of Wastel Brisco and his wife Sarah in 1891 and 1901 respectively. In 1920 the house had been purchased by a contractor with intentions to demolish the site, though the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings organised a committee to attempt to raise money to save the house. The Sphere reported that the bricks and oak panelling were in demand and were likely removed for re-use before the building's demolition. In 1908 Reading Central Goods railway station was opened on the Coley branch line diverting at Southcote Junction. During the first few decades of the 20th century, however, most of Southcote remained rural and undeveloped. An Ordnance Survey map of 1914 shows the majority of land as agricultural (farms and nurseries) with a number of gravel pits and smithies. The 1930s saw the construction of the Southcote Park Estate, a housing estate built on land inherited after the death of William Berkeley Monck of Coley Park. An Ordnance Survey map of 1938 shows greater provision for the population (as opposed to industry); some of the gravel pits no longer existed and Presentation College, a boys' school, had opened in two large Victorian buildings—Rotherfield Grange and Oakland Hall, the latter a suburban villa built in the 1870s. By the advent of World War II, Southcote had begun to experience urban sprawl from Reading and the land bordering the Great Western Railway had begun to be used for housing. Following the war, Denton's Field on the Bath Road in Southcote was used for celebratory events; Battle of Britain commemorative fêtes were held in September 1949 and 1950, and featured a performance by three Alsatians—Rocky, Lindy and Irma—to recognise their work