Closed cinemas in Kingston upon Hull

The Tower

The first purpose-built cinema in Kingston upon Hull was the Prince's Hall which was opened in George Street in 1910 (renamed the Curzon 1955). This form of entertainment became popular and, by 1914, there were 29 cinemas and halls showing films in the city.^[1]

Hull embraced the new age of public entertainment. Luxurious cinemas, taking their inspiration from music hall theatres, were built to accommodate audiences in almost every neighbourhood in the city. A number of old picture houses remain around Kingston upon Hull, one the former National Picture Theatre is a ruin from the Hull Blitz, others have been converted to other uses.

Lost cinemas

Regal cinema

By Paragon railway station stood the ABC Regal.^[2][3] Completed 6 weeks ahead of schedule and opening on 26 January 1934, the vast Regal Cinema with 2,553 seats in stalls and single balcony, was the centrepiece of a £95,000 development mixing leisure, retail and office units.^[4] Three years after opening it was acquired by Associated British Cinemas (ABC) on 8 November 1937. In 1989, amid talks of closure the ABC was renamed Cannon, before finally closing 29 June 1989.^[3] The building was demolished in 2004, to make way for the St Stephens development. The other three ABC cinemas - the Royalty, Rex and Regis - were built in 1935 for City and Suburban Cinemas (Hull) Ltd., before being acquired by the larger national company.

Regent cinema

On Anlaby Road were the Cecil, the Tower (built 1914), and the Regent (built 1910 as Kinemacolour Palace; renamed 1919), all within the city centre.^[2] Further west was the Carlton (built 1928).^[2][5]

Anlaby Road was also home to a short lived open air cinema. The Garden Cinema lasted just four months, between July and October 1912. Managed by Arthur Graham, it was situated on open land to the west of the Emigrants Station. The Pavilion Picture Palace opened on the same site in the summer of 1915. It closed in 1917.^[6]

The original Cecil opened in 1911 on a site on the opposite side of the road to the present Cecil and was called the Theatre De Luxe, being renamed Cecil in 1925.^[7] That theatre was destroyed during a night of air raids on 8 May 1941 but the remains were not cleared until 1953. Work on the new Cecil was begun in April 1955 and it was opened on 28 November 1955^[8] with 1374 seats in the stalls and 678 in the balcony. The cinema operation was closed on 26 March 1992.^[9] As of 2012 the building is operated by the Mecca Leisure Group as a bingo hall.^[10]

Heading east, there were no cinemas on Hedon Road, although there had been the short-lived Picture Palace of 1912-1914.

On George Street were the Dorchester (renamed from the Grand in 1935); Princes Hall/Curzon and the Majestic (built 1915), which was renamed the Criterion after renovation in 1935.^[11] (The lions which originally guarded the approach steps to the cinema are now in Hornsea Memorial Gardens.^[12]) Continuing on to Witham, there was the Gaumont (renamed from the Holderness Hall 1950).^[2] On Holderness Road there was the Savoy (built 1923); off on Southcoates Lane was the ABC Royalty; further out on Holderness Road was the Astoria^[2] and on Bilton Grange's Greenwich Avenue, stood the Berkeley.^[2] which was opened in 1956.

The Astoria Cinema opened on 30 July 1934. Designed by architect James E. Adamson of London and Hull and constructed by Messrs Markwell, Holmes and Hayter Ltd. Seating was 1,000 in the stalls and 500 in the single balcony above which was a large saucer dome with concealed lighting. In 1935 it was taken over by the County Cinemas circuit, but returned to an independent operator a year later. It closed on 7 June 1963 and immediately reopened as the Astoria Bingo Club and continues to this day.^[13] Film composer, John Barry, performed here in the late 1950s, leading his band The John Barry Seven.^[14]

Cleveland Street had one cinema - the Cleveland, built 1914, damaged and re-opened 1941 and finally closed in 1960.

The Waterloo, open from 1920 to 1959, was in Waterloo Street.

Beverley Road had the Strand (built 1914, closed 1960 and demolished after a 1965 fire).^[15] The National had been opened as the Coliseum in 1912, renamed the Rialto in 1920, later becoming the National, taking its name from the National Picture Theatre which had been gutted by fire during the Hull Blitz. The National became a bowling alley in 1961 and burnt down in 1974.^[16] The Mayfair was a cinema from 1929 to 1964; from 1965 it was used as a bingo hall.^[2][17] In 1998 it reopened as a pub, the Hogshead then became The Hollywood & Vine until 2011 where it lay disused. In 2015 it underwent a £1 million transformation into a complex of 30 "smart flats" ^[18]

The Monica (built 1914)^[2][19] was on Newland Avenue, closing in 1961, and since 1965 has been the Piper Club. On North Hull Estate's Quadrant was the ABC Rex.

On Spring Bank West was a large cinema - the Priory,^[2][20] from 1938 to 1959, since used as retail premises.

The Londesborough^[2] was situated on Wenlock Street. Built in 1926, it closed in 1959. It was demolished in the 1970s after being used as a warehouse for a removal company.

The Langham^[2] was the first cinema reached when travelling west on Hessle Road. Built 1929, it was on the sites of both the Magnet (in West Dock Avenue) and the Hessle Road Picture Palace (both of 1912). Next reached was the Eureka of 1912,^[2] then ABC Regis,^[21] and finally the Plaza^[22] at Hessle Square.

The National Picture Theatre

During heavy raids on the night of 17/18 March 1941, the National Picture Theatre fell victim. At approximately 10 pm, the cinema suffered a direct hit to the rear of the auditorium from an air-borne-mine. This caused destruction to a large part of the building and the collapse of the roof. Fortunately the audience on that night, who had been watching Charlie Chaplin’s The Great Dictator, had heard the air-raid warning and gathered in the cinema’s foyer; remarkably, the 150 people sheltering escaped with their lives.^[23]

As of 2015 the site has not been redeveloped and the remains of the building still stand. What is left now is a grand classical façade, behind which are the remains of the foyer, ticket booth, stairways and the rear section of the gallery. The site of the auditorium to the rear was reduced to rubble by the bombing.

The National Picture Theatre is the last surviving ruin of a blitzed civilian building left standing in Britain.^[23] The building received a grade II listing in 2007.^[24]

There is a campaign by the National Civilian WW2 Memorial Trust, to have the remains of the Cinema and the adjoining 'Swann Inn', developed into a memorial and tribute to all those who endured the Blitz during the Second World War.^[25][26]

See also

• J. Arthur Rank, 1st Baron Rank, Hull born founder of the Rank Organisation
• Former cinemas in Harringay

References

Sources

• Allison, K. J., ed. (1969). "26. Social Institutions : Cinemas". A History of the County of York East Riding: Volume 1: The City of Kingston upon Hull. Institute of Historical Research. pp. 418–432. 
• "Old Cinemas of Hull". Friends of Hull Screen. Archived from the original on 19 June 2010. Retrieved 6 March 2013. 
• "These used to be the pictures". Hull in print. Hull City Council. June 2003. Retrieved 6 March 2013. 

External links

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