Circus of Varieties

Little is known about this very early conversion, in Bury, Lancashire, which had started life as the Olympia Circus of Varieties (or, possibly, just Olympia Circus, with variety turns being added to the programme later on).

It was certainly a very large building, with pit, stalls and circle and full stage facilities.

Inevitably, short film programmes became part of the variety bills by September 1909, presented on the Circus-O-Graph projector. One source says that, in 1910, under owner Otto C. Cullin, it became the Olympia Picture Hall, suggesting a more-or-less full-time cinema.

However, the listing in the 1912 Bioscope Annual shows it as the Olympia Circus of Varieties. By that time, the cinema operation was operated by Northern Theatres Co. Ltd. And the listing in the 1914 Kinematograph Year Book shows simply Circus of Varieties (with the same operator). So it is unclear to what extent the name Olympia Picture Hall was used, but I have included it in the header so the name can be searched for.

Unfortunately, this all came to an abrupt end soon after these dates. A fire in the projection room devastated the corrugated iron and wooden building, and it was completely demolished in 1918.

Note: The address in the Bioscope Annual is The Fairground, so I have used it here. This was a large open space that was situated opposite Knowsley Street, roughly where Bury Interchange stands.

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