Adelphi Picture Theatre
Vicarage Road,
Sheffield,
S9 3RH
Vicarage Road,
Sheffield,
S9 3RH
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Additional Info
Architects: William Carter Fenton
Functions: Storage
Styles: Baroque
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The Adelphi Picture Theatre is located in the Attercliffe district in the east of Sheffield. It opened on 18th October 1920 with Irving Cummings in “Auction of Souls”. The red brick building has buff and blue coloured terracotta enrichments on the façade, especially on the small turret dome over the entrance, which also has stained glass windows.
Seating in the auditorium was provided in stalls and circle, and the projection box was located in the rear stalls, underneath the circle. The cinema was in reverse, and patrons entered the auditorium from behind the screen. The decoration includes pilasters, a segment-arched panelled ceiling and a moulded proscenium arch with a central crest which is flanked by torches. The circle has a lattice-work plaster front.
It underwent some restoration in 1936 and a re-decoration in August 1939. It received some bomb damage during the second week of the blitz and was closed for around a month. It received further renovation in August 1946. It remained an independently operated cinema throughout its cinematic life and was usually tied in with the Coliseum Cinema on Spital Hill.
The Adelphi Picture Theatre closed on 28th October 1967 with Robert Vaughn in "The Karate Killers" and "Glenn Ford in "The Rounders". It became a bingo club, last operated by the independent Walkers Bingo. After this closed in around 1995 it became a nightclub and since March 2000 was converted into a music teaching centre. This closed in 2006, and the building stood unused, and by 2013, it was in use as a storage facility. It was announced in November 2022 that the city council were seeking to purchase the building to renovate and convert it into a community centre.
Since early-1996, the Adelphi Picture Theatre was designated a Grade II Listed building by English Heritage.
Contributed by
Ken Roe
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Recent comments (view all 5 comments)
A full frontal view for its days as a nightclub:
http://flickr.com/photos/evissa/324936198/
A side on view from March 2006:
http://flickr.com/photos/sheffdave/273704686/
A close-up view of the facade from June 2006:
http://flickr.com/photos/harryhalibut/374974446/
Now in use as a storage facility (July 2013). Worryingly the interior was said to be stripped and re-plastered.
FULL FACADE
DETAIL OF ARCH
CLOSE-UP OF FACE
The architect was William Carter Fenton (1861-1959). Alderman and Lord Mayor of Sheffield. Former Corporation Chief Building and Architectural Surveyor before establishing the architectural practice of Hall and Fenton.
Grand opening ad posted.
Hi, new to this blog.I have a relative Percy Hayward who was managing a Sheffield cinema in 1939. He was living in Darnell with his wife May who was the cinema’s cashier. I am wondering if any of you knowledgeable souls know of him and which cinema he might have been managing. He lived on Elmham Rd in the 1930’s through until his death in the 1970’s.