Theatre Royal

14 Churchgate,
Bolton, BL1 1HL

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Additional Info

Previously operated by: H.D. Moorhouse Circuit

Architects: Frank Matcham

Firms: Frank Matcham & Company

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Theatre Royal

The original Theatre Royal was built on Churchgate in 1853. It was destroyed by fire in January 1888. Architect Frank Matcham was employed to design a new Theatre Royal, which opened on 19th November 1888. In 1902 it was screening films as part of the programme.

In February 1928 it was reconstructed as a cinema, the plans incorporated the reconstruction of the adjacent Princess Picture Palace (it has its own page on Cinema Theatres). The new Theatre Royal opened on 5th November 1928, and presented variety and cinema performances. It was equipped with a Western Electric(WE) sound system and the first ‘talkie’ shown here was “Broadway” on 16th January 1930. By 1937 it had been taken over by the H.D. Moorhouse Circuit.

The Theatre Royal was closed in 1962. The closed building was destroyed by a fire. A nightclub named The Venue Bar now stands on the site.

Contributed by Ken Roe

Recent comments (view all 1 comments)

Biffaskin
Biffaskin on August 31, 2023 at 6:48 am

The 1944 KYB gives the proprietors as being Bolton Theatre & Entertainments Ltd., they also operated the Hippodrome and Regent at this time. H.D. Moorhouse was booking agent.

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