Description

CAMDEN

TQ3080NW WEST STREET
798-1/108/1714 (North East side)
16/03/73 St Martins Theatre

GV II

Theatre. 1916. By WGR Sprague as a companion to the
Ambassadors (1913), West Street (qv), but for different
owners. Built by Lenn Thornton and Co. Ashlar facade with
banded rustication to ground floor.
EXTERIOR: 4 storeys. 5 bays with 10-window left return. Ground
floor with round arch openings and wide central entrance
surmounted by a plain C20 canopy. Giant engaged Ionic columns
in antis with rusticated end pilasters rise through the 1st,
2nd and 3rd floors, supporting an entablature, with triglyphs
in the frieze, and parapet. First floor windows have Tuscan
pilasters supporting pediments, above shouldered architraves
and keyblocks.
INTERIOR: 2-tier auditorium, in Classical style, of polished
hardwood. Turned balusters to balcony fronts. Side walls of
auditorium have large Doric engaged columns and pilasters on
pedestals supporting bold entablature which continues over the
rectangular proscenium arch. Glazed domed ceiling. Stage
machinery: nearly complete example of Edwardian (1916) wooden
stage, marred only by alterations made to accommodate dimmer
room in the sub-stage space. Represents one of the final
stages in the development of timber stage machinery in England
and an exceptional survival.
HISTORICAL NOTE: "Architectural Review" of that time noted a
change in style of decoration from the lavish showy palace to
a traditional English domestic interior implying a more select
audience.

Listing NGR: TQ3002380984

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• St Martin's Theatre at Wikipedia
• St Martin's Theatre official website
• Wikidata Q7594202

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Setting up a Listed Building Heritage Partnership Agreement: Historic England Advice Note 5
• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990
• 
  Somerset: North and Bristol: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Handbook 2 Books Bundle Collection (Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair,Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability)
• 
  Worcestershire Revised Edition (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Maintaining and Repairing Old Houses: A Guide to Conservation, Sustainability and Economy