Coliseum Theatre

In Gillingham, Kent, this was one of three Medway-located Invicta Cinema’s owned by the Croneen brothers. (The other two were in Strood and Chatham: see separate Cinema Treasures entries.)

This was the first to open, on Easter Monday, 13th April, 1914, at the western end of the High Street, between that street and Mill Street. To make way for this new venture, the brothers demolished a row of cottages which lay between the Lord Hardinge public house and a jeweller’s shop, both of which were owned by the family.

As designed by E. J. Hammond, this first Invicta Cinema had a 38ft frontage and extended back 100ft. Films were projected onto a plaster screen which was proud of the rear wall. There was seating for 500 in the stalls and 100 in the balcony.

The opening attraction was “Truth Will Out”. At an otherwise relatively low-key first night, Mabel Payne sang the National Anthem at this “home of instruction and amusement”.

Deciding against installing sound equipment, the brothers closed the Invicta Cinema on 11th July 1931. By the next Easter it was back in the entertainment business as the Coliseum Theatre, presenting variety programmes. However, this was short-lived, the Coliseum Theatre closing in 1934.

The building became a car showroom, Invicta Garage. The auditorium was later used for storage, but deteriorated badly. It was eventually demolished and, by the late-1980’s, Department of the Environment offices occupied the site. That department appears to have since moved out; there has been a lot of redevelopment in the area and it is unclear precisely where the Invicta Cinema stood. (The former Lord Hardinge public house still stands - by late-2020 it was an Express Food Centre - but it’s still not easy to pinpoint the Invicta Cinema site. Mill Street appears to have been lost!)

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