Cinema
6 Fore Street,
Sidmouth,
EX10 8AJ
6 Fore Street,
Sidmouth,
EX10 8AJ
No one has favorited this theater yet
In Devon coastal town of Sidmouth, the Cinema opened on 17th February 1913 with “Under Two Flags”. The premises had previously been home to the Belle Vue restaurant.
The Cinema never converted to sound, and closed in 1929. The Knight family opened their family dress shop and drapers business in the building in 1938.
On making the necessary alterations, the family removed an artificial wall, and found the original plaster screen behind it. They also noted the date 1875 on a rafter, indicating the possible age of the building.
When I visited, in December 2001, Knights were still in occupation, and there were some lovely period decorative details inside. Sadly, due to retirement, the Knights store closed in May 2010. Plans were submitted to convert the upper floors into flats, leaving shop units on the ground floor, by 2017 operating as a clothing shop named FatFace.
Contributed by
David Simpson
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)
This was Sidmouth’s first permanent cinema after films had been earlier shown in the drill hall and Manor Hall in the town. Arthur W Ellis a local photographer and film exhibiter converted the Belle Vue restaurant in Fore Street using the local architect R W Sampson. The frontage was part of an old house which became the foyer, with flats above and Sampson built a delightful auditorium on land at the rear, seating three hundred and fifty on one raked floor. As in most early cinemas the screen was painted on the rear wall. It opened on the 17th February 1913 with the film ‘Under Two Flags’. It was just called The Cinema, or to the locals ‘Ellis’s Little Cinema’. It was never converted to sound and closed when Ellis opened his larger Cinema, The Grand, in town in February 1929. The building was then used for numerous retail outlets, eventually becoming Knights clothing store and more recently, in 2010, became Fat Face clothes shop. They made major alterations but much of the plaster work from the old auditorium is still intact.
Additional comment: The cinema building was never referred to as the Picture Palace. It was just names “The Cinema” or, as it was referred to by locals, “Ellis’s Little Cinema”.