Duke of York's Picture House
Preston Circus,
Brighton,
BN1 4NA
Preston Circus,
Brighton,
BN1 4NA
7 people
favorited this theater
Related Websites
Picturehouse Cinemas UK (Official)
Additional Info
Operated by: Picturehouse Cinemas UK
Architects: Charles. E. Clayton
Firms: Clayton & Black
Functions: Movies (Classic), Movies (First Run), Movies (Foreign)
Styles: Baroque
Phone Numbers:
Box Office:
440871.704.2056
Manager:
440127.360.2503
Nearby Theaters
Brighton’s Duke of York’s Picture House is Britain’s oldest purpose built, continuously operating cinema, still showing films. It was built on the site of the former Longhurst’s Brewery, by former actress Violet Melnotte-Wyatt who owned the Duke of York’s Theatre (1892-present) in London’s West End. Designed by Brighton based architectural firm Clayton & Black in an Edwardian Baroque style
First opened by the mayor of Brighton on 22nd September 1910 with a series of short films, one of which was “Byways of Byron”. It had a capacity for 800-seats in stalls and circle levels. It was equipped with an ‘American’ organ and an electric piano. It was sold in 1918 to Jack Channon of Sussex Picturedromes Ltd. who operated it until 1978. When sound films arrived around 1929 it was equipped with a British Thomson-Houston(BTH) sound system.
Since 1995, the Duke of York’s Picture House has been owned by City Screen/Picturehouse Cinemas who have renovated the building. It screens a mixture of first run, classic, and art-house films.
On 26th August 2020 “Tenet” was screened in 35mm.
The Duke of York’s is a Grade II Listed building.
Contributed by
Steve Lynch
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Recent comments (view all 16 comments)
A fabulous cinema with an eclectic programming mix of mainstream and arthouse movies.The balcony has comfy sofas and there is a small but well stocked cafe bar with terrace at first floore level.Plans for the future include expansion into a former fire station next door to add more screens and cafe/bar
Here is a 1986 photo showing a rather run-down looking cinema:–
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/5032764936/
Cinema to be refurbished in the summer with new seating and decoration and an additional 3 screens to open at Komedia Brighton in Dec 2012
I can remember going to this cinema as a kid during the summer holidays as it was cheap to get in about a 1- (5p). I remember you could hear the fire engines next door when they where called out to a fire etc. It was called the flea pit by some, I recall one afternoon seeing a rat running about the stalls and a woman screaming about it. I am amazed that it it still a working cinema as all the other cinemas from that time have been closed and have been or are about to be demolished.
The Duke of York’s Picture House, once a year shows the Eurovision Song Contest live on the big screen.
Some contemporary images (taken January 2017) here, showing a stark contrast to the run down state of the building in my earlier 1980’s photos:–
FACADE
FOYER
AUDITORIUM FROM BALCONY
AUDITORIUM FROM STALLS
Cineworld Picturehouse restore in place.
Link to the video on Facebook showing the external restoration of the cinema https://www.facebook.com/DukeofYorks/videos/555698904986830/
Commissioned at a cost of £3,000 by former actress Mrs. Violet Melnotte-Wyatt and named after the London theatre of the same name which she and her husband Frank Wyatt had built in 1892. The legs on the roof were acquired in 1991 from the Not the Moulin Rouge Theatre in Oxford. A further history available here: http://dukeofyorkscinema.co.uk/2010/06/a-brief-history/ and some more images here: https://www.snoozebrighton.com/2019/07/30/the-duke-of-yorks-cinema/ Link mentioned in 2007 now dead.
Le cinéma Duke of York de Brighton est inauguré le 22 septembre 1910. Conçu par les architectes Clayton et Black, le bâtiment et sa très belle façade sont dans leur état authentique. A l' origine la salle pouvait accueillir plus de 800 spectateurs. Une loge d' époque a été conservée sur le balcon de la salle actuelle qui dispose de 278 places. Le cinéma Duke of York accueille chaque année le Cinécity Brighton Film Festival organisé par l' université de Brighton. Le Duke of York est non seulement le plus ancien cinéma du Royaume Unis mais je le place dans le panthéon des huit plus vieux cinémas du monde après le cinéma Eden Théâtre de La Ciotat en France (1899), le cinéma du Panthéon à Paris (1907), le Kino Ponnier de Szczecin en Pologne (1907), et le Biograph Theater au Danemark (1908).
Max Régnier. Perpignan Max Régnier. Aniche