Derngate
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Derngate is a part of Northampton, England containing a theatre complex of the same name. Originally the name referred to one of the then walled town's gates located here.
[edit] Town
The Derngate part of Northampton is dominated by offices, restaurants and the theatre. In the past the area also contained the old bus station and Northampton High School for girls - which has since moved to Hardingstone.
Also in Derngate is the famous 78 Derngate - a Grade II* listed Georgian house, noted for its interior, which was extensively redeveloped in 1916 and 1917 by Charles Rennie Mackintosh for local businessman and modelmaker, Wenman Joseph Bassett-Lowke.
[edit] Theatre
The theatre complex was built on the site of the old town bus station and opened on April 4, 1983 with an 8pm performance by jazz singer Jack Jones. The theatre is next door to and physically linked to the 19th century Royal Theatre, and since 1999 both theatres have been managed by the Northampton Theatres Trust.
The complex of both theatres shut for a major refurbishment in 2005 and 2006 and re-opened in late 2006. Soon after re-opening, the complex's future was threatened by annual cuts of £250k which Northampton Borough Council (NBC) planned to levy, in an attempt to claw back its own budget deficits - even though they had largely paid for the refurbishment work! It was feared that a withdrawal of the NBC funding would trigger similar funding wothdrawals from other sponsors - a short term solution has been reached with Northampton County Council agreeing to fund the NBC cuts for the next 2 years. The long term future of the complex remains uncertain in the light of these cuts.
