Bijou Theatre

The Cinque Ports Assembly Room was built during the autumn of 1868 and its entire construction took just twelve weeks. It was in fact an extension of the Cinque Ports Arms and the hall itself was 50ft by 25ft. It was initially used for all types of entertainment and was available for hire.

In 1899 the theatre was prosecuted for not having a theatre licence and it transpired that it had never had one and was fined £283-3/-, which apparently equated to 1/- for every two days that it had operated throughout its 31 years.

In 1905 the Church of England Temperance Society put on a lantern lecture entitled “The Evils of Alcohol”. A little odd seeing the proprietor of the venue was a brewery. It was also during this year that Bioscope shows started to be presented on a Tuesday and Wednesday.

In March 1913, the owners of the Cinque Ports Arms and Assembly Hall, Edwin Finn Brewery of Lydd, applied for a Cinematograph licence, which was granted. It opened as the 250 seat Bijou Theatre on March 24, 1913, which was Easter Monday, with a cine-variety programme. Shows and cine-variety went hand in hand and many big stars of the day appeared there including Ellen Terry.

The venue was again in trouble when it was proscecuted for holding an illegal lottery, when cinema programmes were sold for 1d each and on the back of each was a unique number which would be entered into a lottery to win cash prizes.

During the 1929’s films became so popular that it bacame a full time cinema and the variety acts were no more.

Shipman and King, who also owned the nearby Electric Palace in Landgate, Rye, acquired the Bijou Theatre with the sole intention of closing it, which happened, along with its former rival, in March 1932, two days before the opening of their new Regent Cinema a few doors further along Cinque Ports Street. Rye wouldn’t have a choice of two cinemas again for 83 years when the Kino opened in Lion Street in January 2015.

It was eventually demolished and the Gandhi Tandoori now occupies the site of the old Bijou Theatre. There is no truth in the fact that it was demolished to make way for the Regent Cinema.

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