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Theatres in Woolwich, London Grand Theatre - Hippodrome - Empire Theatre - Royal Artillery Theatre - Granada Cinema - Odeon Theatre |
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Grand Theatre, Wellington Street, Woolwich Later The Hippodrome Theatre
Above - The Grand Theatre and Town Hall, Woolwich - From a Postcard posted in 1913 The Grand Theatre, adjacent to the Town Hall in Wellington Street, Woolwich opened on the 18th of October 1900 and was built by Messrs W. Johnson & Co to the designs of the well known Theatre Architect Bertie Crewe.
In 1908 the Theatre was renamed the Hippodrome and presented twice nightly Variety under the management of Walter Gibbons. Right - Postcard for the Woolwich Hippodrome, whilst showing Twice Nightly Variety. Charles Gulliver took over the Theatre in 1913.
The stage carpenter and resident stage manager at the Woolwich Grand from when it first opened in 1900 was Percy Court, (Shown Right) who worked there for 7 years. After he retired from working in theatre he wrote down his memories of his long career from the late 1800s in an article entitled 'Memories Of Show-Business' and this is now availiable to read on the site here... If you have any more information or images for this Theatre that you are willing to share please Contact me here. |
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Empire Theatre, Beresford Street, Woolwich The New Portable Theatre, Woolwich / West Kent Theatre / Duchess of Kent's Theatre / Barnard's Theatre / Woolwich Theatre Royal See the main page for this Theatre here
Above - Real Photograph of the Woolwich Empire Theatre in the mid 1950s - Courtesy John Earl - Click for more information on the Woolwich Empire. The Empire Theatre in Beresford Street, Woolwich was built by the renowned Theatre Architect Frank Matcham in 1899 and was built on the site of a series of previous Theatres. Originally on the site there was the New Portable Theatre which opened in 1834. This was replaced by a permanent structure in 1835 called the West Kent Theatre. The Theatre was renamed the Duchess of Kent's Theatre in 1837 and renamed again in 1892 to Barnard's Theatre. After this it was also sometimes known as the Theatre Royal. The Theatre was reconstructed in 1899 by Frank Matcham. Finally the Theatre was renamed the Woolwich Empire in the 1920s and this building, with a capacity of 1,450, remained until it was demolished in 1960. There is a much more information on this Theatre on its own page here... |
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Royal Artillery Theatre, Woolwich See the main page for this Theatre here
Above - Postcard of the Royal Artillery Barracks, Woolwich. The Royal Artillery Theatre can be seen to the right of the picture, with ventilators visible on the roof above the auditorium. - Courtesy the Val Earl Collection. The Royal Artillery Recreation Rooms were a conversion, in 1863, of a former multi-purpose hall situated in the eastern end of the vast frontage of the Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich, London. The recreation rooms were later altered for theatrical use and renamed the Royal Artillery Theatre. However, the interior was destroyed by fire in 1903 and a new Royal Artillery Theatre was built into the shell of the old, opening on the 21st of December 1905. There is a much more information on this Theatre on its own page here... |
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Granada Cinema, Powis Street, Woolwich
Above - The Granada Cinema, Woolwich in use as a Gala Bingo Hall in 2008 - Photo M.L.
Right - The Souvenir Brochure which was produced for the opening of the Woolwich Granada in 1937 - Click to see the whole programme with an article by Theodore Komisarjevsky.
Left - The Auditorium of the Woolwich Granada from a Souvenir Brochure produced for the opening of the Theatre in 1937 - Click to see the whole programme with an article by Theodore Komisarjevsky. The Theatre was converted for full time Bingo use by Granada Bingo in 1966 and reopened on the 30th of October. In 1974 the building was granted a Grade II Listing, and this was upgraded in 2000 to Listed Grade II* The Theatre continues to house Bingo today and is currently run by Gala Bingo. An article by the Woolwich Granada's interior designer, Theodore Komisarjevsky, and many images of the Theatre, can be seen on this page featuring the Theatre's opening programme. |
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Later The Odeon Cinema - The Coronet Cinema - New Wine Church
Above - The former Odeon Cinema, Woolwich, now renamed Gateway House and in use by the New Wine Church - Photo M.L. 2008 The Odeon Theatre, Woolwich, opposite the former Granada Cinema, was built in the Art Deco style by the architect George Coles for the Oscar Deutsch Odeon Theatre chain and opened on the 25th of October 1937. The auditorium was built on two levels, Stalls and Balcony, with a capacity of 1,178.
Right - The former Odeon Cinema, Woolwich, now renamed Gateway House and in use by the New Wine Church - Photo M.L. 2008 The Cinema was reopened as the Coronet in July 1983 under the management of Panton Films but was split into two Cinemas in 1990. The Coronet closed in 1999 and was converted into a church by the New Wine Church and the building was renamed Gateway House. Despite its checkered history the Theatre is Grade II listed. If you have any more information or images for this Theatre that you are willing to share please Contact me. |
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On
its opening the Theatre, then called the Grand Theatre and Opera House,
was under the management of Clarence Sounes, and had a capacity of 1,680
with and auditorium built on three levels; Stalls and Pit; Circle; Grand
Circle; and boxes.
The
Theatre was modernised in 1964 and the auditorium lost all of its original
plasterwork and decorations in the process. By 1981 it had closed down
and was to remain closed for nearly two years.
