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____________________________________________________________________________________________ Theatre and Halls in Balham, London The Royal Duchess Theatre, 105 Balham
Hill, High Road, Balham, London
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Above Left - The Theatre when it was known as the
Balham Hippodrome.
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The Royal Duchess Theatre, on the High Road, Balham, London was built for The London Theatre Of Varieties and Barrasford Ltd by W. G. R. Sprague at a cost of £35,000 and opened in 1899.
Above - The Royal Duchess Theatre, Balham when it was known as the Duchess Palace - From a Period Postcard
Right - The Duchess, Balham - From a Postcard. The Theatre was renamed the Duchess Palace in 1903 and in 1906 it was renamed again, this time to the Duchess Theatre. Arthur Lloyd is known to have performed here in 1903. The Theatre was demolished in the 1960s.
Above - Programme for the Royal Duchess Theatre,
Balham for the week of October 8th 1900
- Courtesy Christopher Luscombe.
Text in quotes from From 'The Face Of London' by Harold P. Clunn 1956. Right - The Royal Duchess Theatre, Balham - From a Postcard sent in 1904. If you have more information or images for this Theatre that you are willing to share then please Contact me. |
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Empire Theatre, 75 High Road, Balham Also known as The Balham Music Hall / Balham Empire Music Hall / Theatre de Luxe / Olympia / Pavilion / Gaumont Cinema The Empire Theatre, Balham originally opened as the Balham Music Hall. The Music Hall itself was actually a conversion from a former Swimming Bath which had been converted to house Concerts etc. in 1890. From 1900 the building became known as the Balham Empire Music Hall and was built by the architect W. Hancock, however this only lasted until 1902 The Empire Theatre, as it later became known, with a capacity of 766, had a short life from 1902 until 1909. Arthur Lloyd is known to have performed at the Empire Theatre in 1903. In 1907 the Balham Empire was the first theatre in London to convert to full-time Cinema/Cinematograph use, and in 1909 the Cinema became known as the Theatre de Luxe. In 1915 the Cinema was renamed the Olympia and then in 1920, having been taken over by the National Electric Circuit, the Cinema became known as the Pavilion. Eventually Gaumont took over the building in 1938 and renamed the Cinema in 1949 to the Gaumont. The Cinema closed in 1960 and was converted to a Bingo house, and this long checkered history finally came to an end when the Theatre was demolished in 1974. If you have more information or images for this Theatre that you are willing to share then please Contact me. |
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The
Theatre was built on four levels, Stalls and Pit, Dress Circle, Balcony,
and Gallery, and had a capacity on opening of 2,500 which was later
reduced to 1,268 when it became the Balham Hippodrome.
'From
here the wide main road to London is continued by Upper Tooting Road,
Balham High Road, and Balham Hill, to the south side of Clapham Common.
Tooting is a densely peopled quarter largely inhabited by City clerks,
but Balham, which is an important shopping centre, has some good-class
houses extending towards Tooting Bec Common. In the High Road, Balham
is the large departmental store of Messrs Holdron Brothers Limited,
and on the opposite side of the road, at the foot of Balham Hill is
the handsome stone facade of the Duchess Theatre
which was destroyed by bombing during the last war. Ducane Court on
the west side near Balham Station is a mammoth block of flats erected
in 1936 which claims to be the largest in South London. Westbury Court,
erected above Clapham South Underground Station, is a bold block of
flats facing Clapham Common. Balham High Road lacks the smart appearance
of its sister suburb of Streatham, for most of its buildings are badly
in need of cleaning. Some of them were badly damaged in the blitz and
have lately been demolished.'
