Regent Cinema

When I visited the village of Coedpoeth, a few miles to the west of Wrexham, in July 2010, I photographed this building believing it had once been home to the Regent cinema. Unfortunately, I cannot now (in 2016) recall where that information came from!

The building was, and still is, the Parish Hall. It was built in 1896, so it could well have been used as a cinema for part of its life.

The town was not listed in the 1914 Kinematograph Year Book (KYB), but a “Cinema” was listed, under Wrexham, with the only address as “Coedpoeth”, in the 1931 edition. That also specified that it was equipped with Western Electric(WE) sound. The owner was Cambria and Border Cinemas Ltd. of Wrexham. It could be, of course, that this Cinema was located elsewhere in the village, but this hall does appear to be the most likely home for it.

Presumably it closed during the mid/late-1930’s, as it was not listed in the 1940 (or 1953) editions.

In ‘Cinemas of North Wales’, Brian Hornsey quotes from a 1970’s newspaper article that said that films were transferred to Coedpoeth after they had been shown in “Rhos”. Presumably he means the nearby town of Rhosllanerchrugog, where the Pavilion Cinema and the Public Hall Picturedrome were both listed (under Wrexham) in the 1931 KYB (though neither was owned by Cambria and Border Cinemas).

If I find my reference to the Regent Cinema at Coedpoeth I’ll add a comment to this entry. In the meantime, hopefully another contributor will be able to clarify the cinema situation here.

Meanwhile, the Parish Hall, constructed from local sandstone quarried at Penygelli quarries, continues to be a focal point for community life in the village.

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