The Theatre Royal was built on the West Side of Liverpool's Williamson Square and opened on the 5th of June 1772 with a production of the play 'Mahomet.' The Theatre opened under the management of Joseph Younger and George Mattocks and was designed by Sir William Chambers, and built by subscription, of which thirty different gentlemen contributed about £170 each, a considerable sum in the 1770s. Each of the subscribers were given 5% of the takings and a transferable ticket.

The Theatre was rebuilt in 1802 by Foster with an almost circular frontage. This Theatre would eventually be taken over and converted into a Cold Storage Unit.

The building was demolished and the site was cleared for the construction of a "Civic Centre" (Council offices) in the mid 1960s. However, it was still vacant eight years later.

The site is now apparently the home of the official Liverpool Football Club store.

This Theatre Royal in Williamson Square is not to be confused with the Theatre Royal in Breck Road which was built in 1891 as the Theatre Royal Palace Of Varieties by W. Redman.

In the drawing above the building is 9 7/8" wide and 10" high at the apex on the pediment. The doors are 5/8" wide and the steps are 1/8" high. It suggests a scale of 3/16":1'0".

Much of this information on the Theatre Royal, and the drawing of the Theatre were kindly sent in by John West.

Arthur Lloyd is known to have performed here in 1867.

There are a few images of the second Theatre here.

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