Roxy Cinema

Built in 1870, the Great Hall in Mount Pleasant Road was used mainly for concerts and shows until it was converted to a cinema in 1920.

Tunbridge Wells first talkie “The Doctors Secret” was shown at the Great Hall Cinema on Monday, October 14, 1929. The cinema closed in 1949.

It was acquired by Essoldo, who also controlled the towns other three cinemas, the Ritz Cinema and Opera House, both in Mount Pleasant Road, and the Kosmos Cinema in Calverley Road, which gained Tunbridge Wells the name ‘Essoldo City’ in the cinema industry. It reopened on May 6, 1955 as the Roxy Cinema with Jeff Chandler in “Sign of the Pagan” & Eddie Byrne in “Children Galore”. It catered solely for a teenage a juvenile audience by screening the likes if James Dean, Marlon Brando and Rock ‘n Roll type movies.

It closed on November 8, 1958, after a screening of “The High Cost of Loving” starring Jose Ferrer. It became a dance school and all but the façade was gutted by fire in 1983.

It has been totally rebuilt and enjoys life as the Great Hall Arcade, which houses many upmarket outlets and the first floor is home to BBC regional television studios.

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