King's Theatre
Forest Street and Fox Street,
Sutton-in-Ashfield,
NG17 1DA
Forest Street and Fox Street,
Sutton-in-Ashfield,
NG17 1DA
No one has favorited this theater yet
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Eskay Ltd., Star Cinemas
Architects: Alfred John Thraves
Functions: Bar
Styles: Art Deco
Nearby Theaters
Located in Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire. Originally on this site stood the New King’s Theatre which opened on 3rd October 1904 and had a seating capacity of 500. It had its entrance on Forest Street. From April 1906, films were being presented as part of the variety show and in 1911 it was known as the King’s Picturedrome. The building was re-constructed in July 1913 and again in 1920 when the seating capacity was for 800. It closed in August 1931 with Lon Chaney in "Phantom of the Opera" and Frank Starsmore in "Three Men in a Cart". The building was demolished to build the new King’s Theatre.
The King’s Theatre had its entrance on Fox Street and was designed in an Art Deco style by noted Nottingham based cinema architect Alfred J. Thraves. It opened on 28th March 1932 with Ronald Colman in "The Unholy Garden". Seating was provided for 926 in the stalls and 333 in the circle. It was operated by the Nottingham based Eskay circuit.
In the mid-1960’s it was sold to the Star Cinemas circuit of Leeds and soon they were operating it as a Star Bingo Club in winter months and film use during summer months. The King’s Theatre closed on 3rd June 1967 with Walt Disney’s "Lady and the Tramp" and "Ballerina". It was converted into a full time Star Bingo Club from 1st July 1967.
Other operators took over reopening the cinema with bingo also on certain nights. The final films were screened around 1974 and bingo continued until the mid-1990’s. It was then converted into a nightclub, named the Picture House. This only lasted a few years. The auditorium was demolished and a job centre was built on the site. The front section of the building was taken over by the J.D. Wetherspoon chain of pubs and on 22nd February 2000 it opened as the Picture House pub.
Contributed by
Ken Roe
Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater.
Recent comments (view all 2 comments)
The Wetherspoons pub occupies the foyer areas only- the auditorium has been demolished and replaced by a Job Centre
The building definitely wasn’t entirely closed as a cinema from 1967 because I used to go there to see films on the odd occasion between about 1974 and 1976(it wasn’t my nearest cinema so I only rarely needed to go there to see a particular film.) It must have been from 1974 onwards because I used to drive there and that was the year I passed my test. I then left the area in 1976 so have no memory of it closing. I don’t specifically remember, but I suspect that Star split the cinema into a bingo hall (probably downstairs) with a smaller cinema remaining in the former balcony, as they did with some other smaller cinemas they owned.