It is based at a boat house in Christchurch Meadows on the River Thames in the Reading suburb of Caversham.

In 1954, the club purchased the Dreadnought public house that has closed in 1952, and subsequently built a river studies laboratory in the garden behind the pub.

[6] A number of former members have competed at the Olympics, including double gold-medallists James Cracknell and Helen Glover.

[8][9] RUBC have been frequent competitors at the Henley Royal Regatta, which is held around 10 km downriver from Reading.

The Reading University Head of the River race has been run since 1935 and is the largest student-organised public sporting event in the country, drawing a record 237 crews in 2015.