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Gazetteer
Theatre Royal & Opera House ~ Royal ~ Odeon ~ Central
Thomas Reginald Matthews, a ship owner. The main entrance was
at 29 Abbey Road while a second entrance was on Lower Union
Street. This was a large room with a flat floor used for theatrical
performances. The first performance took place on 21st January
1863. By 1878 it had been known as Royal Lyceum and also Winter
Gardens.
In 1880 William Gillow a local business man paid a large amount of
money to have the building converted into a "proper" theatre for
Torquay. His architect was C J Phipps and his design is said to have
been based on the Gaiety Theatre in London. The decoration
scheme was crimson and gold with a 117 jet sunburst on the
ceiling. The building reopened as Theatre Royal and Opera House.
In 1909 electric light was installed and from 1915 occasional film
shows took place. In 1932 WC & EJ Vickery of Taunton took a 21
year lease of the building to operate it as a full time cinema. The
Royal Cinema opened 27th March 1933 having been dramatically
modernised. Almost all decoration from the previous incarnations
was gone leaving just a basic stalls(571 seats) and balcony(312
seats) and some art deco light fittings.
It is not surprising that such a simple interior caught the attention
of Odeon when they were looking to build in Torquay, and they
took over the cinema on 29th July 1935 as Odeon (Torquay) Ltd. It
retained its stage and café. The cinema was renamed Odeon 12th
April 1937.
reopening on 24th March 1974. There were 360 seats in the
former stalls and 186 in the former balcony. Odeon closed
the cinema late November 1999 blaming competition from
the new Apollo multiplex at Paignton.
The cinema was taken over by Geoff Greaves of Merlin
Cinemas, a Cornish circuit and was reopened as the Central
Cinema on 11th February 2000. Screen Two, former stalls
was closed February 2001 for a £250,000 conversion to three
new screens, leaving the larger Screen One upstairs. Now
Screen 1: 186, Screen 2: 122, Screen 3: 78, Screen 4: 42. The
cinema is profitable and doing very well.
John Maltby of the
Torquay Royal having
just been modernised.
A rare shot of the
projection box at the
time.
Photos: Cinema
Theatre Association
structures in Britain today, yet very few people have ever heard of
it.
A competition was announced in 1896 for a pavilion on the newly
reclaimed land by the harbour. The winning design was by Edward
Richards. Problems caused a delay and revised plans were drawn up
jointly between Mr Richards and H C Goss and were approved in
1903. Delays continued as there were also plans for a new Town
Hall. Work finally started to the 1903 plans in 1911, overseen by
borough architect Major Henry Augustus Garrett.
A large 1000 ton raft had to be built to take the weight of the
structure as the reclaimed land was not strong enough. The
exterior was clad in Doulton's carrara enamelled stoneware, creating
the bright white finish we see today. The central dome was
covered in copper and has a full size figure of Britannia on top. The
two smaller domes feature Mercury, messenger and God of
eloquence. There is also much art-nouveau cast ironwork to be
seen, especially on the two octagonal band stands on the
promenade decks that run around the building.
Opening 1912 the building featured a foyer and auditorium with a
lounge and café with oak panelling throughout. There was a fine
curved balcony, facing the stage. The building was mainly used for
concerts and had its own orchestra, Torquay Municipal Orchestra,
plays were also performed here.
In later years the building was used for bingo and roller skating, but
the building was deteriorating. Plans to demolish the building
resulted in listing in 1973 but the building closed in 1976. From 1979
to 1983 an Ice Skating Rink was housed in the building, but did not
use real ice.
Having been closed for four years the building was given a new use
as an indoor shopping centre in 1987, which it remains today. The
sympathetic installation of the shops has retained the wood
panelling, decorative columns and plaster walls. The expansive
decorated ceiling was restored and the balcony now serves as a café
and bar and allows access the promenade decks outside. The use of
lighting and the layout of the centre allow the decorative scheme to
still be appreciated and must be one of the best conversions of this
type in the country. The only missing elements of this building are
the stage and some of the original staircases which have long since
been removed.
Thank you to Geoff Gill for showing me around. He has a collectables
shop in the Pavilion and is keen to hear from anyone with
information or old programmes for the Pavilion.
Films were occasionally shown.
of the Torquay
Pavilion as it used to
look.
early postcard of Torquay
clearly shows the
projection box that had
been added on the roof
opposite the proscenium.
there was a hall also known as the Drill Hall but most
commonly known as Market Hall. This became a cinema
around 1909, somewhat considered a down market cinema it
was much improved by 1913 and was called Picturedrome. It
was substantial, able to seat 1000 and had a skating rink
attached.
The cinema closed by 1936 due to competition and became
shops. The exact position of the cinema within the market
buildings is not clear and some of the buildings have been
demolished. The remaining structure is now part of a
shopping centre.
prolific local cinema operator A O Ellis, to operate a local
theatre in the affluent St Mary Church area of Torquay.
Although always referred to as Tudor Theatre, it was run as a
cinema. The cinema had a mock timber frame facade in
keeping with its name, if not the location in Fore Street.
The operating company was Tudor Theatres (Torquay) Ltd
and there were 500 seats.The cinema opened summer 1928
and had a Picturetone sound system installed shortly
afterwards. This was replaced with Zeiss sound after the
war.
lobby and stairs to balcony, with a 6'6" high dado panel. There was a 48' long passageway to the front
stalls entrance. There was fabric on the walls of the auditorium and the front of the balcony.
Correspondence from 1950 reveal the cinema owned a car park on the land to the far side of Hampton
Avenue, and plans were drawn up to build 4 shops and 4 flats on the site. However eventually the
site was sold to the council as a car park, as it was situated opposite the Town Hall.
By rights this cinema should have been an early victim, but under A O Ellis it operated though the
1950s and after his death his widow FLM Ellis took over and the cinema operated into the 1970s then
being used for bingo. The building was purchased by Pat & Ken Cumings, avid transport memorabilia
collectors for a museum. After conversion which has lost most of the cinema interior, the building isd
now laid out like a town street complete with period shops and even a pub. Part of the circle is now
a cafe. The museum is very popular, particularly with school parties.
to many of the big shows that tour the regions. It is a
modern and somewhat plain structure on the same reclaimed
land as the Pavilion on Torbay Road.
Although not operated as a cinema, projection equipment is
present and Pearl & Dean advertisements are sometimes
shown. There are 1495 seats.
castle keep, the Riviera Centre has an indoor swimming pool
and conference centre, opened in 1987. It is situated behind
Abbey Park on Chestnut Avenue.
With the closure of the ABC, the Torquay Council felt that
the Odeon would be inadequate for film entertainment in the
town. As a result they invested £47,000 installing projectors
and a flying screen so that films could be shown part time.
The cinema was called The Flicks and could seat 800. The
screen was 30' by 16'. The cinema opened 27th October 1991
with Regarding Henry. Film shows continued for a few years
but gradually died out.
1911 to build a cinema for General Theatres Ltd at Torquay.
Costing £7300 the cinema was built in Union Street and was
named the Electric Theatre. It opened on 21st December
1911, seating 740.
This cinema was never rebuilt but constantly improved and
enlarged and in the 1930s a circle had been added increasing
seating to 1,060 and Western Electric sound had been
installed. A café was also added. The proscenium width was
31'. By 1956 a CinemaScope screen 29' wide was installed and
3-D films could be shown.
continued the improvements. He built a licenced restaurant and renamed
the cinema Colony in 1962. He also installed the latest 70mm Todd AO
equipment. This called for an enlarged screen 36' by 20' and seating was
reduced accordingly to 824. Mr Myott finally closed the cinema in 1986
and the building was demolished for a Littlewoods store.
A Cinema 100 plaque is now displayed at the site of the cinema.
Photo Courtesy of Stuart Kidd
district, just up the hill beyond Market Street on Victoria
Road. The Empire Theatre was built by Robert Tucker in
1912, opening July 1913. The striking facade has an apparent
arabian/islamic feel to it but must always have suffered due
to its remote location from the town centre.
By 1915 Charles Poole was operating the building and during
the Great War was taken by W Linsdell of Cinedrome,
Plymouth. The building was then renamed Cinedrome. The
cinema reached a peak under the ownership of Messrs
Conday and Rowland. Captain Arthur Rowland came from a
fairground family and his real name was Arthur Haslam. The
Cinedrome was the first cinema in Torquay to install sound
for Broadway Melody shown 7th October 1929. Western
Electric sound was installed. There was seating for 600.
By 1935 the building was leased to W E Willis of Cardiff and
closed 1959. It soon reopened and showed continental films
before closing again in 1963 for bingo. It later became a
nightclub called Monroe's, which explains the figure on the
frontage. The building was been empty for a number of
years before being demolished in 2005.
company Burlington Picture House (Torquay) Ltd with about 500 seats.
In 1930 the company obtained a site in Castle Street for a new cinema but did not immediately act.
At the same time ABC were looking for a suitable site for a new cinema and deciding that the only
location was the Castle Street site so bought the Burlington cinema company to obtain the site. ABC
took over the Burlington from 26th February 1931 and with the completion of their new cinema
leased the Burlington out to Regent Cinemas Ltd from May 1933 to 1935.
In 1939 the cinema was sold to an independent operator (F Okin) as Burlington (Torquay) Ltd. The
proscenium was noted as 25' wide. Western Electric sound was in use. A fire severely damaged the
building in September 1944, but was repaired and reopened, only to close December 1953.
Demolished for shops. Situated in the lower part of Union Street.
Burlington Picture House (Torquay) Ltd, who ABC bought out
to obtain the site. They scraped the original plans and W R
Glen prepared new plans for an ABC on the Castle Street
site.
The cinema was unusual due the steep slop of the site. The
entrance was placed at the same end as the screen. Being
an early ABC it did not feature the usual Glen ABC style,
instead had painted local scenes on the side walls, giving an
atmospheric feel. The exterior had a corner entrance facing
Castle Circus and was of brick and stone. There were stage
facilities (20' deep)and 6 dressing rooms and a 3 manual, 11
rank Compton Organ with illuminated console. The cinema
accommodated 1600 and had its own café, the proscenium
width was 38'. The cinema opened 31st July 1933, with
Western Electric sound in use.
The cinema was renamed ABC around 1961, now using RCA
sound. The organ was sold and removed in 1972. Films
ceased 24th May 1978 and the cinema became a bingo hall,
which closed in 1986. The cinema was leased out to an
independent operator and reopened as Regal 14th August
1987 seating in the balcony only. With the closure of the
ABC the Cannon release was sent to the Colony and since the
Colony's closure the Rank and Cannon releases were going to
the Odeon two screens, as a result the independent
operation at the Regal could not book the best films and the
operation ceased in November 1987 and was demolished
April 1989, now a job centre, called Regal House.
There is a cinema 100 plaque on the building.
(Picture courtesy of Darron Keeling, Torquay
From: Cinema Theatre Association