Picture House

In the Aberdeenshire town of Turriff, a cinema was created in the former Town Hall. There is no listing for this in the 1914 Kinematograph Year Book, but the Town Hall Cinema is listed in the 1931 edition. The owners were shown as Lyall, Melvin and Johnston.

By the 1940 edition, the Town Hall Cinema was listed as being owned by Turriff Town Hall Cinema Company. The seating capacity was given as 344.

By the 1947 edition, the cinema had been renamed Picture House, and was by then owned by Turriff Cinema Company. Interestingly, an increased seating capacity of 400 was given. This had ‘reduced’ to 385 by the 1953 edition.

The Picture House was still open in 1963 but had closed by 1966. When I visited, in June 2005, it was Deveron Country House, initially a guest house, that also included Buckley’s restaurant.

It had been in the same ownership since 1990 but, following retirement, it was sold in 2015. The building, by then an entertainment centre, had been on the market for “in excess of £300,000”, and comprised a lounge, main bar, nightclub, restaurant and private function suites over three floors. It was purchased by a local businessman, who intended to re-open “soon”, after some minor refurbishment. The new owner has longer term plans to develop the venue into a hotel operation.

Get Movie Tickets & Showtimes

Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater.