Castle Cinema

The Castle Electric Theatre opened on 8th September 1913 in Homerton, a district of Hackney in the east of London. Total seating was provided for 619 in stalls and a small balcony area.

It was an independently operated cinema for most of its life. By 1927 the Castle Electric Cinema was operated by J.W. Barber. From mid-1943 it was operated by S.M. Super Cinemas Ltd. which was headed by W. Southan Morris. In 1954 S.M. Super Cinemas were taken over by the Newcastle-upon-Tyne based Essoldo Cinemas circuit and the Castle Cinema came under their management.

This was not to last too long though, as Essoldo closed down the Castle Cinema on 24th May 1958 with Jerry Lewis in “The Sad Sack” and Fernando Lamas in “Lost Treasure of the Amazon” (Jivaro).

The building became a glass factory, which was still in operation in 1973. It was converted into an independent bingo club which closed around 1979. It was then used as a storage warehouse until 1983, when it became a snooker club. In March 1994 a second floor had been extended across from the front of the balcony and the former stalls was in use as an independent bingo club, with a snooker club operating in the newly extended balcony area upstairs.

In April 2006, the building underwent a renovation internally and externally and became a snooker club on two levels known as Brookboss Snooker Club. In April 2014, the upstairs section was converted into an upscale bistro burger bar, while the downstairs is a Spar convenience store (mini-supermarket). In 2016 plans were proposed to convert part of the upstairs into an 80 seat cinema. The former extended balcony has been divided across, with one section a large 80-seat bar & restaurant, the other section now houses the cinema, which has retained the top portion of the former proscenium with its decorations. The 80 individual armchairs in the auditorium were originally in the 5* Churchill Hotel in central London. The Castle Cinema had a ‘soft’ launch in December 2016 screening Christmas themed films. It officially reopened on 3rd February 2017 with “La La Land”. On 15th February 2019 a second screen was opened in a convervsion of the former projection box & rewind room. It has 27 luxury seats (including 6 sofas).

Recent comments (view all 5 comments)

Ken Roe on May 14, 2006 at 11:26 am

Two recent photographs of the former Castle Cinema:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kencta/146291232/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kencta/146291585/

Buffer on July 19, 2014 at 11:33 am

Since April, the upper floor has become the E17 a smart burger bar and bistro. The has low lighting, leather banquettes and retro fittings. Best of all the original curved ceiling is shown in the issue of Time Out for July 15-21, 2014 in the Eating and Drinking section.

RichieA70 on March 28, 2016 at 2:52 pm

A campaign to reopen The Castle cinema in June 2016 has just reached its initial fundraising target. The proposal is to open a 60-80 seat audotorium in approximately half of the upper floor, where the original 1913 plasterwork and decorative mouldings above the proscenium arch are visible. The other half will remain a restaurant working with the cinema, while the downstairs former stalls remains a Spar / Eat17 shop and bar. Details here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/pillowcinema/revive-the-castle-cinema

Richardthecarpenter on April 17, 2016 at 7:39 am

My Mum was a usherette at this cinema , also you skipped from cinema in 1958 to bingo hall , I worked here in 1973 , it was a glass factory called Borzels , it specialised in putting transfers on glass then baking them in an oven , I was there in 1973, I also have a picture of myself down the alley

thecastlecinema on January 20, 2017 at 8:14 am

Hi guys!

We’re Ash & Dee, and together we’re working hard to get the Castle Cinema reopened!

Thank you so much to everyone for your incredible work creating this resource!

We’ve never been able to find any images from when the cinema was open, despite talking to the Cinema Theatre Association Archive, Hackney Archives, etc. If anyone could point us towards any old photos of the cinema and Chatsworth Road / Brooksby’s Walk (perhaps in personal collections, etc) that would be incredible!

Similarly anyone with experiences they can share would be fantastic!

Please feel free to email us –

@Richardthecarpenter – we’d absolutely love to see this image of you from the 1970’s!

I’ll check back regularly, and will share some pictures of the renovated space etc.

Thanks again! Ash & Dee