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Theatres in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire Lawrence Batley Theatre - Theatre Royal - Palace Theatre - Empire Theatre - Hippodrome - Grand Picture Theatre - Gymnasium Hall - Assembly Rooms - Fountain Music Hall - Cambridge Arms - Prince of Wales - Navigation Tavern Arthur Lloyd is known to have performed in Huddersfield in 1871 |
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The Hippodrome, Queensgate, Huddersfield Later - The Essoldo / Tudor Cinema
Above - The Huddersfield Hippodrome in May 2009 - Courtesy John West
A few years later in 1909 the Theatre was the subject of some alterations and at this time the stage was known to have been 26ft deep by 56ft wide, but in 1926 the Theatre had some furthur alterations which saw the auditorium significantly enlarged and at the same time the stage house was completely rebuilt and had a scenic workshop added. Right - The Side elevation of the Huddersfield Hippodrome in May 2009 - Courtesy John West The original auditorium, with a capacity stated in 1912 as being around 2,000, was built on two levels, stalls and one semicircular balcony, the ends of which joined boxes which flanked the 26 foot wide proscenium. Dressing rooms were provided beneath the stage.
Above - The Side elevation of the Huddersfield Hippodrome in May 2009 - Courtesy John West In the 1960s a serious fire destroyed much of the Theatre including its original auditorium. The stage of the Theatre was then converted into a Cinema, and the main auditorium walls were lowered and later converted for Cinema use too. The original facade of the Theatre was in the industrial classical style built in stone but this has since been modernised and reclad in Westmorland slate. The fly tower has now been chopped off and all in all the Theatre looks rather sorry for itself.
Above - The Side elevation of the Huddersfield Hippodrome in May 2009 - Courtesy John West If you have any more information or images for this Theatre that you are willing to share please Contact me. |
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Lawrence Batley Theatre, Queen’s Square, Queen Street, Huddersfield Formerly the Queens Street Chapel The Lawrence Batley Theatre was opened in 1994 and was a conversion from a former Wesleyan Chapel called the Queens Street Chapel, which was built or designed, or perhaps both, by Joseph Kaye in 1819. The Chapel closed for business in 1970 and the building was then taken over for use as an arts centre which ran there from 1973 to 1975 when it was closed down due to serious repair work that needed doing on the building. In 1978, after the repair work was carried, out the building became a squash court, and by 1978 it was also in use as a Disco in the evenings. In 1994 the building was converted into a Theatre by the architects of the Kirklees Theatre Trust who consequently owned and managed the Theatre, which on its opening was named the Lawrence Batley Theatre. The auditorium is built on three levels and has a capacity of between 423 to 477 depending on its configuration. There is also a small cabaret space in the basement with a capacity of 150. You may like to visit the Theatres own Website here. |
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Palace Theatre, 30 Kirkgate, Huddersfield Later - The Palace Continental / Gala Bingo / Chicago Rock Café The Palace Theatre, Huddersfield was originally built as a Music Hall by Horsfall & Sons with decorations by J. Binns & Sons of Halifax. The Theatre, which had a bioscope box included in its design, opened in 1909 and had an auditorium with a capacity of 1,614, with an unusual Pit area which was more steeply raked than the Stalls. The stage was 30 foot deep by 60 foot wide and the fly tower was fitted with 28 hemp lines. In January of 1936 the interior of the Theatre was completely destroyed by fire but by the Easter of the following year, 1937, it had been rebuilt, this time by Roland Satchwell and Ernst Roberts. The new Facade was built in a slightly similar design to the original but overall the exterior remains much unchanged from it's earliest inception. The new auditorium was built on three levels, Stalls, Dress Circle, and Upper Circle, and there was an orchestra pit, full stage and fly tower, and 9 dressing rooms. In 1959 the Theatre was converted into a cabaret theatre and then in 1969 an inevitable Bingo conversion took place. Bingo ran in the building for many years but in 1997 the building was converted by the HSB partnership, into a Chicago Rock Cafe and nightclub by boarding over the orchestra pit, leveling the stalls to stage level, and adding a mezzanine level. The Dress Circle and Upper Circle were left intact however, and the fly tower and grid still remain. The dressing rooms were bricked up but so much of the building remains in its 1937 form that given the will it could be converted back into a Theatre again in the future. It is possible that The Huddersfield Palace is one of only two surviving works of Roland Satchwell and Ernst Roberts. The other survivor being The Alexandra in Birmingham which is still operating and was built on a larger scale. In 2010 the building is under threat of total demolition due to Phase
2 of the Kingsgate shopping centre construction plans which have been
on hold for some time due to the recession. However, the Theatre is
unlisted despite advise from the Theatres
Trust, and its future looks bleak. See this
article for more information. If you have any more information or images for this Theatre that you are willing to share please Contact me. |
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Grand Picture Theatre, 10 - 12 Manchester Road, Huddersfield Later - The Sheridan Rooms / Eros / Ivanhoes
Above - The Facade of the former Grand Picture Theatre, Huddersfield in 2009 - Courtesy John West The Grand Picture Theatre was designed by the architect Clifford Hickson, of the Company Stocks, Sykes and Hickson, as a single screen cinema, and was built in the French Renaissance / Greek Revival style. The Theatre opened on the 14th of March 1921 with a capacity of 878 and a proscenium opening of 28' 6". The Theatre was later taken over by Union Cinemas, who later became part of the Associated British Cinema (ABC) chain of Cinemas. The Grand Picture Theatre closed for the last time as a Cinema on the
6th of June 1957, and then in the 1960s became a concert venue for Jazz
and Rock bands called the Sheridan Rooms. The building was later converted
into a Nightclub known as Eros, later renamed Ivonhoes, but even this
closed in the early 1990s. Subsequently the interior of the Theatre
was demolished and turned into a Supermarket although the exterior remains
to this day.
Above - The Facade of the former Grand Picture Theatre, Huddersfield in May 2010 - Courtesy Charles Bowman
Above - A Detail of one of the crests on the Facade of the former Grand Picture Theatre, Huddersfield in May 2010 - Courtesy Charles Bowman Some of the information for this Theatre was gleaned from the excellent Cinema Treasures Website. If you have any more information or images for this Theatre that you are willing to share please Contact me. |
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The Empire Theatre, St Peter's Street, Huddersfield Formerly the Little Wooden Hut Theatre / Rowley's Empire Theatre The Empire Theatre, Huddersfield was originally built as the Little Wooden Hut Theatre in 1881, the same year as the Theatre Royal. John Weldon Rowley, the well known Yorkshire Music Hall Artiste, bought the Little Wooden Hut Theatre in 1887 and opened it as his own Music Hall called the Empire Theatre in 1887. It was known as Rowley's Empire and presented popular Music Hall Entertainment for the next ten years. One of the first artistes he engaged was Charles Chaplin Senior in 1892. Roley sold the Hall to the Robinson Brothers in 1897 after losing £25,000 over the ten years that he had operated it. There is much more information on J. W. Rowley here. The Empire Theatre was demolished in 1904 and the site was used for the building of a Post Office. If you have any more information or images for this Theatre that you are willing to share please Contact me. |
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The Theatre Royal, Ramsden Street and Bull and Mouth Street, Huddersfield
Above - The Theatre Royal, Huddersfield - From a Postcard
The Theatre opened on Monday the 1st of April 1861 under the management of the Lessee, Mr. W. S. Thorne, with a Pantomime production, but this building was actually primarily built as a Lecture Hall by the Philosophical Society and consequently was never the most satisfactory of Theatres, despite the fact that it was altered and improved several times over the years. Right - A poster for a 'Dramatic Season' at the Theatre Royal, Huddersfield whilst under the ownership of John Hudspeth. Mentioned is a Benefit for Miss Marie Bramah and Mr John Hudspeth, and the pieces included 'Luke The Labourer', 'The Irish Emigrant', 'Coleen Bawn', and 'Sentenced To Death'. So in 1880 the old Lecture Hall / Theatre was demolished and a new Theatre Royal was built on the same site by J. A Love of Southport to the designs of the architect B. E. Entwistle. The new Theatre took fourteen months to complete and opened on Monday the 11th of April 1881 with a production of 'As You Like It' with Miss Wallis playing Rosalind. The Theatre's main frontage of square stoned Ashler was on Ramsden Street and was 60 foot wide with six entrances, including access to the Dress and Upper Circles through a spacious Vestibule of 23 foot by 18 foot. The Boxes were approached from a handsome staircase in the Vestibule. The side elevation on Bull and Mouth Street was in hammer dressed stonework, 118 foot in length, and provided entrances to the Stalls and Stage, and exits from the Pit and Gallery. The stage, which was on street level, designed for easy access, was 55 foot wide with a proscenium opening of 26 foot by 28 foot high and had two tiers of boxes on either side, two on each tier. The Grid was 47 foot high. The Dress Circle could accommodate around 120 people and the Upper Circle around 130. The Upper Circle also had its own smoking lounge, refreshment bar, and crush room. The Gallery and Pit could each accommodate around 1,000 people. Underneath the Pit was a room designed for Band Practice. The proscenium was embellished with bas relief ornaments and above the stage was a large fresco painting illustrating Shakespeare's comedy and tragedy with a figure of Shakespeare himself in the centre. The auditorium ceiling consisted of 16 panels with figures representing Music and Drama. The Act Drop for the new Theatre was painted by George Tweddell and represented a party of merry makers embarking on board a large gondola. |
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Above - The auditorium of the Theatre Royal, Huddersfield in a photograph taken by Harry Atkinson for the owners Nita Valerie and her husband during the week of the very last show at the Theatre (Sailor Beware) before its closure and eventual demolition - Courtesy Anthony Hartwell - Harry Atkinson was a Huddersfield photographer who photographed a great many stage and film artists. |
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The Theatre Royal, Huddersfield
Right - A Programme for 'Peace Comes to Peckham' at the Theatre Royal, Huddersfield, October the 25th, 1948. The Theatre Royal, was demolished in 1961 by the Huddersfield Corporation,
allegedly because it was in a dilapidated condition. A new Market Hall
was built on the site. If you have any more images for this Theatre that you are willing to share please Contact me. |
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Gymnasium Hall - (Proprietor, Mr J. Le Blanc.) - Mr Hardy Gillard's Panorama of America has been doing good business during the Christmas holidays. - From the Era, 31 Dec 1871 - Courtesy BF. If you have any more information or images for this Hall that you are willing to share please Contact me. |
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Assembly Rooms, - An extra Christmas concert
was given here on Thursday, the 21st instant, by the members of the
Huddersfield Choral Society, when the oratorio selected for performance
was Handel's Messiah. The principle vocalists were Madame Tonnekor (soprano),
Miss Crosland (contralto), Mr T. W. Hanson (tenor), and Mr Richard Garner
(base). If you have any more information or images for this building that you are willing to share please Contact me. |
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Fountain Music Hall, Huddersfield Fountain Music Hall - (Proprietor, Mr C. Cartlidge.) - Thursday, 21st inst., was set apart for the benefit of Miss Warde (pianist), when the following artistes gave their services. Miss Kate Lascelles, Mr E. Cartlidge, Master C. R. Cartlidge, Mr J. Battersby, and Mr Shakespere Hurst (reader and reciter). - From the Era, 31 Dec 1871 - Courtesy BF. If you have any more information or images for this Hall that you are willing to share please Contact me. |
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Cambridge Arms - Mr. Nat Ogden, comic singer; Messrs. Wells and Edwards, Nigger melvelists; Miss Lizzy Wright, serio-comic and sentimental; and Mr. Hamer, tenor, appear every evening, to the satisfaction of the numerous patrons of the establishment. During the Easter hollidays extra entertainments are announced; also, the first appearance of Mr. W. Hall, wizard, singer, and ventriloquist. Mr. B. C. Hoskins is re-engaged. The musical department is under the direction of Mr. J. W. Lord. First violin, Mr. J. S. Robinson. - From the Era, 31st March 1861 - Courtesy BF.) If you have any more information or images for this Hall that you are willing to share please Contact me. |
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Prince of Wales - Mr. E. D. Davies, Irish comic singer, is fulfilling a short engagement. He is an old favourite in this town, and is in full possession of his wanted humour. Mrs. Sherratt, dancer; Miss O'Brien, and Miss Parker, vocalists, are also still here. Miss Smithson adds lustre to the circle by her superior performance on the piano, and the rendering of a selection of Operatic songs. - From the Era, 31st March 1861 - Courtesy BF.) If you have any more information or images for this Hall that you are willing to share please Contact me. |
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The Navigation Tavern, Huddersfield Another Concert Room, at the Navigation Tavern, is to open on Easter Monday; Proprietor, Mr. A. Waterhouse. The room is spacious, fitted up with a stage, scenery, &c., nicely decorated, and well adapted for the purpose. - From the Era, 31st March 1861 - Courtesy BF.) If you have any more information or images for this Hall that you are willing to share please Contact me. |
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Frank Matcham, the renowned Theatre architect designed a variety theatre for Huddersfield but sadly this was never built. |
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The
Huddersfield Hippodrome was built by the architect W. Cooper in 
The
first Theatre Royal, Huddersfield was built in 
Our
next town was Huddersfield - at the Theatre Royal. This theatre had
a small plant of electrical equipment and here we were able to recharge
our batteries (six in number). These batteries were used - you will
remember in the scene with the "SAFE" and the means by which
it was opened. The method of use was fixing wires to the batteries -
and from them a wire to a carbon which was held in a rubber folder -
leaving about six inches bare. An ordinary large file, bound round at
its "tang" with rubber is held in the right hand, the carbon
with the left, as each hand touches the iron plate over the key hole
of the safe: a shower of sparks and flashes of light are helped by the
fuse wires melting - this was very spectacular and effective. It held
the audience - spellbound. '