Gaumont Norwich
1 Hay Hill,
Norwich,
NR2 1QX
1 Hay Hill,
Norwich,
NR2 1QX
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Additional Info
Previously operated by: Gaumont-British Picture Corp., Ltd.
Architects: Francis Burdett Ward
Previous Names: Picture House, Haymarket Picture House
Nearby Theaters
The Picture House opened on 18th February 1911 and it was a conversion of a former London & Provincial Bank building at the corner of Haymarket and Hay Hill. Seating was provided on one floor.
In May 1921 it was closed for a major re-build and it re-opened on 12th December 1921 with an increased seating capacity of 1,687. The architect responsible for this was Francis Burdett Ward. The cinema had a restaurant attached.
On 4th February 1929 the Haymarket Picture House (as it had become known) became the sixth cinema in the UK to be equipped with ‘sound on disc’ equipment and it screened Al Jolson in “The Singing Fool”. In June 1930 it was taken over by the Denman Picture Houses/Gaumont British Theatres chain and in September 1931 a Compton 3Manual/7Rank organ was installed that was opened by Leslie James.
In around 1954 it was re-named Gaumont, but this didn’t last long as it was closed on 15th August 1959. The building was demolished and a retail store built on the site,(by 2025 a branch of Next). The name ‘Gaumont’ was transferred to the Rank owned Carlton Cinema on All Saints Green.
Contributed by
KenRoe
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Recent comments (view all 2 comments)
A close-up of the entrance to the Haymarket Picture House taken in December 1949:
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Photographed as the Gaumont in June 1956:
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This was one of the cinenas in Norwich where the architect forgot to include a projection room. The error was not discovered until the engineers arrives with the projectors.