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From the Very Beginning by Phil Yates
Brief History of Theatre Royal Winchester
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Brief History of Theatre Royal Winchester
Location: Hampshire
Converting a hotel into a theatre was no easy task, but it was one which John and James Simpkins were determined to complete. They had been operating the Palace Variety Theatre in the banqueting-hall of St John’s House on the Broadway since 1910, with such success that they now wanted a “place of entertainment” to their own design. In 1912 the brothers purchased the Market Hotel on Jewry Street and set about its conversion.
The hotel, built in 1850, consisted of two wings, the shorter on Tower Street and the longer running northwards along Jewry Street. It was a convenient stop-over point for farmers on their way to sell their cattle at the market (now Jewry Street car park) and buy implements and provisions from the Corn Exchange (now the City Library). The theatre’s auditorium, stage and fly-tower were built on the spacious rear yard of the hotel.
On August 24, 1914, the Theatre Royal opened as a cine-variety music hall. A typical evening’s entertainment consisted of variety acts and melodramas, interspersed with screenings of silent films and the Pathé Gazette newsreel. Amongst the young hopefuls who trod the boards of the Theatre Royal in 1915 were Grace Stansfield – later to become Gracie Fields – and Chesney Allen before his successful partnership with Bud Flanagan.
Gradually, however, the live shows became less frequent as the lavish movies coming from Hollywood captured the public imagination. In the early 1920s the brothers transformed their theatre into a full-time “picture palace”, and it remained so for fifty years.
In June 1974 the latest owners of the cinema closed it down and applied for a demolition order with a view to erecting commercial premises on the site. Winchester City Council responded by securing a Grade II listing for the building. Within two months the Winchester Theatre Fund was formed, its aim to “restore live theatre in Winchester”, with the Theatre Royal as its first project. With the generous help of the City Council, the Sainsbury Trust, Mr Peter Cadbury and many other donors, the Trustees of the Fund purchased the building in April 1977 for £35,000. Assisted by a grant from Hampshire County Council, they pressed ahead with plans for its restoration.
After four years in darkness, the lights outside the theatre came on again on November 1, 1978 to launch national and local appeals for funds. Programmes of fund-raising performances alternated with temporary closures for building work until the refurbished Theatre re-opened fully in September 1981. Ironically, in 1987 projection facilities were added and the Royal once again became both theatre and “picture palace”.
In January 1996 the doors closed one more time for the present extensive refurbishment scheme, made possible by the support of the National Lottery Board of the Arts Council of England, the City and County Councils, the Southern Arts Board, local businesses and local people. After five years of hard work, overcoming numerous obstacles and setbacks, the work is complete.
The theatre is still owned by the Winchester Theatre Fund and is now operated by Live Theatre Winchester Trust Ltd.
With all its renovations the venue retains its charm and intimacy, an important factor for those of us who harbour an abiding affection for the building. Long may it continue to bring live theatre to the community.
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