Gaumont Hull
Holderness Road and Clarence Street,
Witham,
Hull,
HU8
Holderness Road and Clarence Street,
Witham,
Hull,
HU8
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Additional Info
Previously operated by: Gaumont-British-Picture Corp., Ltd.
Firms: Freeman, Sons & Gaskell
Previous Names: Holderness Hall
Nearby Theaters
On November 16, 1912 the residential area of Witham gained the Holderness Hall Cinema - a large luxurious cinema with a cafe.
Richly decorated with fibrous plaster in floral bands, marble terazzo flooring and leather seating, the Holderness Hall had a barrel vaulted ceiling (also with plaster embellishment) and the walls were hung with tapestry panels. A tea room at 1st floor level was one of three cafes in the building. There was a single balcony seating 600 - the stalls accommodated 1,400. This was later reduced to 1,850 in total.
Entrance could be made from either Holderness Road or Clarence Street. The building had cost £12,000.
It was sold to Gaumont British Theatres in 1931, but not renamed Gaumont until 3rd July 1950. It closed just nine years later on November 10, 1959 - a victim of its location near but outside the town centre.
It reopened as the Majestic Ballroom which featured live acts (including The Beatles) and when this closed on 7th March 1965 bingo took over.
Eventually it was largely gutted to form a large funiture warehouse. The former cinema was demolished in early 2004.
Contributed by
Ian Grundy
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Recent comments (view all 5 comments)
The former Majestic / Gaumont / Holderness Hall has been demolished in the early part of 2004.
A friend of mine had an interesting recollection of seeing the Beatles at the Majestic in February 1963. You can read his recollections at my weblog View link
Two scanned images, one of each of the two facades, here:–
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/4804322276/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/4803691439/
The Holderness Hall opened exactly two months after Liverpool’s Lime Street Picture House (later the Futurist), both being owned by the Bradford based New Century Pictures. The Liverpool cinema was designed by the company’s resident architects, C.C. Chadwick & Wm. Watson, of Albion Street, Leeds, but I can’t confirm that they also designed the Holderness Hall.
[Revised] There is the potential for confusion here. The Holderness Hall was built for William Morton who acquired, built and managed theatres and picturedromes in Hull from 1895 to 1935. (see ‘closed cinemas in Kingston upon Hull’ on Wikipedia, references sourced from contemporary Hull Daily Mail). The work was designed and carried out by local architects, ‘Freeman, Sons, and Gaskell’. Morton generally used local businesses for all aspects of his work. However, in 1910, Morton did enter into partnership with the New Century (Leeds) Circuit and registered a new private company (called Prince’s Hall (Hull), Ltd. (3 directors from Morton’s, 2 from New Century) This was the first purpose built cinema in Hull. Holderness Hall (Hull) Ltd was another company of which Morton was chairman. it is probable that this was also a partnership with New Century Pictures. (Morton was also a member of their board.)