Picture House

Located in the small Warwickshire town of Stratford-upon-Avon (the birthplace of William Shakespeare). The Electric Picture House was built for Sydney John Dickinson and opened on 10th December 1912. Designed by architects Homer & Lucas, the facade was entirely decorated with Doulton Carraware ceramic tiles. The 700-seat cinema had a flat roof, a stage and an orchestra pit, with seating provided all on a single level.

From December 1920, the Electric Picture House was operated by Irving Bosco and Waller Jeffs was installed as manager. He later became involved with Sydney Clift who took over the running of the cinema in 1924. Improvements were immediately made when a pitched roof replaced the flat roof and a balcony was added. It became part of the Clifton Cinemas circuit.

New dressing rooms were added in 1926 after the fire which destroyed the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, and the Shakespeare Company made the Picture House their temporary home during the theatre season. Talkie equipment was installed in 1930 and the Picture House was closed at Christmas 1933.

It was demolished to build a new Picture House on the site (which has its own page on Cinema Treasures).

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