King's Theatre

Situated in the St. Mary’s district of Southampton, the Kingsland Picture Theatre was opened on 15th January 1914 by the mayor, Alderman W. Bagshaw. The opening film was “A Daughter of the Underworld” starring Carlyle Blackwell and Billie Rhodes. The manager was Edward Leith and there were 900 seats. This purpose-built cinema, with a mock Tudor frontage with three false gables, was owned by Kingsland Picture Palace Co. Ltd.

In the 1925 Kinematograph Year Book the cinema is listed as the King’s Theatre, it was owned by Frank S. Bromley and the resident manager was Miss N. Arkin.

A real-life drama occurred on 26th December 1934, when fire broke out in the projection box. The cinema’s senior operator, Samuel Corbishley, who had been at the King’s since it opened, was so badly burned tackling the blazing equipment that he spent many months in hospital before he could return to work.

By the time of the 1939 Kinematograph Year Book the cinema was owned by Charles F. Wright and the seating capacity had been reduced to 716.

The following year the King’s Theatre was destroyed by German bombs, a victim of the blitz on Southampton.

The site was eventually cleared, for post-war redevelopment, in February 1955.

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