Former Dudley Hill Picture Palace, Tong, Bradford

Summary

Former cinema, 1911-12, now a carpet and furniture showroom (2016), by Howorth and Howorth of Cleckheaton for Walter and Percy Goodall. Mellow red brick with white Marmo faience dressings, slate roof. Baroque façade.

Description

Former cinema, now a carpet and furniture showroom, 1911-12, by Howorth and Howorth of Cleckheaton for Walter and Percy Goodall. Mellow red brick with white Marmo faience dressings, slate roof. Baroque façade.

PLAN: the building is aligned north-east to south-west with the front elevation and main entrance located at the north-east end. The building is bounded by Tong Street to the north-east, Compton Street to the south-east, a later warehouse to the north-west, and later-C20 housing to the south-west.

EXTERIOR:

FRONT (NORTH-EAST) ELEVATION: this wide 3-bay elevation, which appears as 2-storeys due to the presence of windows lighting the former balcony, has a faience plinth, a cornice with egg and dart ornamentation supported by shaped corbels, and a stringcourse between the floor levels, which also incorporates egg and dart ornamentation. Full-height pilasters with faience panels flank the 3-bays and the corners, which are curved; those pilasters flanking the central bay incorporate relief swag and garland decoration arranged around a Green Man-style head. The main entrance is set to the centre and consists of a wide segmental-arched opening with faience quoining and a large triple keystone displaying the date '1912' in faded gold stylised relief numerals. Two sandstone steps (the top step with a yellow, green and black terrazzo covering) lead up to two sets of timber double doors contained within the opening, that each incorporate six horizontal lights and original brass door furniture, and are set within a timber screen with overlights and side lights in a similar style. Modern roller shutters*, which are not of special interest, have been inserted in front and a modern signage board* (not of special interest) exists above denoting its current use as a carpet and bed centre. Above the entrance is a large segmental-arched tripartite window with replaced glazing and a faience surround incorporating a triple keystone. Surmounting the central bay is a large broken segmental pediment in faience with relief decoration incorporating wreaths, scrolled decoration and a shell motif. Set to the centre of the pediment is relief lettering in faded gold reading 'PICTURE PALACE'. A finial that originally existed to the centre of the pediment has been lost. The outer bays each have a slender segmental-arched window with a quoined faience surround incorporating a triple keystone and a first-floor oculus above with a faience surround incorporating a keystone, hoodmould and festoon decoration (now covered over by modern signage boards*, which are not of special interest and also covered internally). The outer bays are topped by a shaped parapet that continues around the frontage's curved corners and which, along with the central pediment, hides the pitched roof from view.

NORTH-WEST and SOUTH-EAST SIDE ELEVATIONS: both side elevations are largely blank and have a number of blocked-up fire exits and windows with faience heads and sills. A stairwell that provided access down to a secondary entrance (the entrance for the cheaper seats nearest to the screen) at the south-western end of the south-east elevation has also been infilled, and the north-eastern half of the elevation is largely hidden by a modern advertising hoarding/billboard*, which is not of special interest.

REAR (SOUTH-WEST) ELEVATION: the rear gable end is rendered and is blank apart from a modern ventilator pipe* and the remains of a modern signage board*, which are not of special interest. A short brick stack rises from the gable copings.

INTERIOR: internally the former entrance foyer has been partly opened up and the inner entrance doors leading into the auditorium have been removed, but the original grooved wall frieze survives. A former office and balcony stair lie off to the north-west side of the former foyer accessed through original doors with Art Nouveau-style handles; the door to the former office displays the word 'PRIVATE' in relief lettering, whilst a sign declaring the venue licensed for public music and singing exists above the entrance to the balcony stair. A further original panel over the entrance with relief lettering reading 'BALCONY', which is depicted on early-C21 photographs, has been removed. The former office is now used for storage and has a blocked-up window. The balcony stair is enclosed and is located to the north corner of the building; a modern partitioned vestibule has been created at the top of the stair on the balcony behind an original door. Another room off to the south-east side of the former entrance foyer has been altered.

The main auditorium retains its raked floor and has a barrel-vaulted ribbed ceiling with rose motifs adorning the ribs, and circular ventilators with surrounds incorporating egg and dart moulding and miniature cartouches. Pilasters exist to the side walls and rise up to meet the ceiling ribs and a cornice incorporates a band of egg and dart moulding. The moulded proscenium arch survives at the south-west end, but the stage and cinema screen have been removed, along with the seating (originally there was a centre aisle and two side aisles). Original fire exit double-doors survive on the north-west side, but the remainder have been blocked-up. An opening has also been inserted into the north-west wall to connect into a neighbouring warehouse/commercial unit, which is not included within the listing.

The straight-fronted balcony has a bolection-shaped front with festoon and ribbon plaster decoration. A small section of the balcony front at the south-east end has been removed due to the installation of a modern stair* (not of special interest), which now provides the main access up to the former balcony. A projection room was originally located to the centre of the balcony, but this has since been removed and modern office partitions* (not of special interest) have been inserted along the north-west side. Modern tiled ceiling panels* (not of special interest) also exist over part of the balcony. A modern first floor*, which is not of special interest, has been inserted into the auditorium between the balcony and the proscenium to provide additional showroom space, and is supported by columns below; a small central section of the balcony front has been removed to provide access on to this later floor.

An original 5-panel door with a classical architrave in the south corner of the auditorium leads to a south-east side entrance that contains a small original paybox/ticket kiosk with a leaded-glazed door incorporating a segmental-arched hatch. Gentleman's/staff toilets with white glazed-tiled walls and original sanitary ware also survive, and the space is now used for storage.

* Pursuant to s.1 (5A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 ('the Act') it is declared that these aforementioned features are not of special architectural or historic interest.

History

Dudley Hill Picture Palace was constructed in 1911-2 to the designs of Howorth & Howorth of Cleckheaton for Walter and Percy Goodall who owned a small chain of cinemas known as the Goodall's Pictures Circuit in the early C20 in what is now West Yorkshire. These included the Picture Palace (open by 1931) and the Savoy Picture House (c1923) in Cleckheaton, The Pavilion, (c1914) in Ravensthorpe and the Picture Palace (1910) in Heckmondwike.

At the time of its construction, the Dudley Hill Picture Palace was located in a densely built up area characterised by terraced housing and mills, which would have provided a large customer base, and the cinema had seating for approximately 600 people. The interior plasterwork was produced by John Theabold and Sons of Bradford.

The cinema opened on 9 December 1912 to a feature of the black and white silent film 'How's Your Father?'. Music was provided by a piano, and later by a small orchestra. The first full-length talkie film shown at the cinema was the black and white film 'Such Men are Dangerous' on 27 October 1930. A CinemaScope screen was later installed in 1956 and the cinema remained in use until its closure on 1 April 1967. The final features shown were the 1966 film 'Thunderbirds Are Go' and the 1962 film 'Beauty and the Beast'.

Following the cinema's closure the building became a bingo hall and social club and then fell into disuse. It later became a carpet and bed showroom and remains in this use today (2016).

Reasons for Listing

The former Dudley Hill Picture Palace, constructed in 1911-12 to the designs of Howorth & Howorth of Cleckheaton, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Architectural interest: it has a striking and exuberant Edwardian Baroque façade unusual for its outlying location that reflects its status as a palace of entertainment and incorporates elaborate faience dressings;
* Date: it is one of the earliest surviving purpose-built cinema buildings in the country;
* Interior survival: despite alterations following change of use, the interior retains classical decoration that maintains stylistic continuity with the exterior, and numerous original features, including the paybox, the auditorium with its raked floor, wall pilaster decoration, barrel-vaulted ceiling, balcony, and proscenium arch.

External Links

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