The Curzon Cinema & Arts, in Clevedon, North Somerset, England, is one of the oldest continually running purpose-built cinemas in the world.
The Curzon Cinema & Arts, in Clevedon, North Somerset, England, is one of the oldest continually running purpose-built cinemas in the world.
Opened on 20 April 1912 by Victor Cox, the original building had 200 seats and the first show raised funds for the survivors and relatives of those who were lost at sea earlier in the month on the RMS Titanic. [1] [2] [3] Its first projector was gas powered, but in subsequent years the building was improved with the addition of extra seating (bringing the total number of seats to 389), and was the first public building in the town to have electricity, which also saw the projector upgraded to run on electricity. [4]
Between 1920 and 1922, a new cinema was built on the site (without interruption to the nightly programme of films). The building, still in use to this day, has a row of shops along the front, the Oak Room Cafe above, and facilities for stage shows. The cinema was the site of Clevedon's only fatality due to enemy action in the Second World War, when a soldier standing in the cinema doorway was killed by a bomb, damage from which is still visible on the exterior. [3] Muriel Williams, who was in the cinema when it was bombed, recalls the air raid warning flashing on the screen on the night it was bombed in the Curzon Memories App. [5] The App also includes memories from Julia Elton, daughter of documentarian Sir Arthur Elton, who remembers her grandmother frequenting the Oak Room Cafe and rephotography of archive photos of the cinema through the ages.
In 1945, the cinema (previously known as "The Picture House") was sold and changed its name to the "Maxime". [4] Another change of ownership in 1953 brought its current name. After years of decline, the building was greatly altered during the late sixties and early seventies: the box fronts, along with the organ, were removed and the openings 'bricked-up', the balcony was closed, the suspended false ceiling installed, and the projection room returned to its original position at the rear of the stalls. [6]
Never hugely profitable, the cinema was taken into administrative receivership in 1995, and after a campaign to save the cinema spearheaded by Jon Webber, it was bought by Clevedon Community Centre for the Arts, a registered charity, which continues to run it. Patrons include Sir Charles Elton, son of the notable documentary director Sir Arthur Elton, Aardman Animations founders David Sproxton and Peter Lord, directors Nick Park and Terry Gilliam, and actors Tony Robinson and Alan Rickman. [7]
In 2009, the Curzon Cinema successfully passed the first round in its bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) and was awarded £31,700 to help develop a more detailed bid for second phase of the awards process. [8] A subsequent Stage II award of £321,900 in 2010 allowed the cinema to complete the first stage of restoration, with some repairs made to the roof, a new exhibition and lounge bar installed, and the Curzon Collection of Heritage Cinema Technology being relocated to the former Coach House adjoining the building. [9]
In 2012, the Curzon Cinema reached the final for Best Heritage Project of the National Lottery Awards. [10]
The Curzon celebrated its centenary on 20 April 2012, with a weekend of celebrations. [11] Run by charitable trust, the Curzon is now seeking to raise funds for the next phase of its restoration, including the Balcony. [12]
In 2015, the former Coach House was transformed into a cafe bar, whilst the Curzon Cinema Collection was put on display throughout the cinema.
From 2018, the Curzon began to host a boomsatsuma Media Production Extended Diploma [13] at the Curzon Cinema Studio, alongside the North Somerset Creative Campus at Nailsea School.
Run by a charitable trust, the Curzon has been raising so much money to fix the roof in 2020 they managed to raise enough money and in 2022 they started raising money to restore the balcony the last time the balcony was open was 50 years ago and it is now opened again in 2023 for a screening of roman holiday on the 10th February 2023.
Clevedon is a seaside town and civil parish in the unitary authority of North Somerset, England. It recorded a parish population of 21,281 in the United Kingdom Census 2011, estimated at 21,442 in 2019. It lies along the Severn Estuary, among small hills that include Church Hill, Wain's Hill, Dial Hill, Strawberry Hill, Castle Hill, Hangstone Hill and Court Hill, a Site of Special Scientific Interest with overlaid Pleistocene deposits. It features in the Domesday Book of 1086. Clevedon grew in the Victorian period as a seaside resort.
Imperial War Museum North is a museum in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford in Greater Manchester, England. One of five branches of the Imperial War Museum, it explores the impact of modern conflicts on people and society. It is the first branch of the Imperial War Museum to be located in the north of England. The museum occupies a site overlooking the Manchester Ship Canal on Trafford Wharf Road, Trafford Park, an area which during the Second World War was a key industrial centre and consequently heavily bombed during the Manchester Blitz in 1940. Just across the Trafford Wharf Road from the Museum is the bulk of the Rank Hovis Flour Mill, a survivor from a former industrial age and now rather out of keeping with the surrounding architecture. The area is now home to the Lowry cultural centre and the MediaCityUK development, which stand opposite the museum at Salford Quays.
Clevedon Court is a manor house on Court Hill in Clevedon, North Somerset, England, dating from the early 14th century. It is owned by the National Trust and is designated as a Grade I listed building.
Clevedon Pier is a seaside pier in the town of Clevedon, Somerset, England on the east shore of the Severn Estuary. It was described by Sir John Betjeman, as "the most beautiful pier in England" and was designated a Grade I listed building in 2001.
The Rex is a cinema in the town of Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, England. Designed in the art deco style by David Evelyn Nye in 1936, the cinema opened to the public in 1938. After 50 years of service, the cinema closed in 1988 and became derelict. The building was listed Grade II by English Heritage, and following a campaign to save the Rex by a local entrepreneur, the cinema re-opened to the public in 2004.
Watershed opened in June 1982 as the United Kingdom's first dedicated media centre. Based in former warehouses on the harbourside at Bristol, it hosts three cinemas, a café/bar, events/conferencing spaces, the Pervasive Media Studio, and office spaces for administrative and creative staff. It occupies the former E and W sheds on Canon's Road at Saint Augustine's Reach, and underwent a major refurbishment in 2005. The building also hosts UWE eMedia Business Enterprises, Most of Watershed's facilities are situated on the second floor of two of the transit sheds. The conference spaces and cinemas are used by many public and private sector organisations and charities. Watershed employs the equivalent of over seventy full-time staff and has an annual turnover of approximately £3.8 million. As well as its own commercial income, Watershed Arts Trust is funded by national and regional arts funders.
The Dome Cinema, Worthing, West Sussex, England, is a grade II* listed building owned by PDJ Cinemas Ltd. The Dome Cinema, which has three screens and a Projectionist's Bar is run by PDJ Cinemas, while Alfresco Services run two function rooms and the cafe at the front of the building. It has closed for refurbishment several times, most recently between December 2005 and July 2007. The name derives from the distinctive dome on top of a three-storey tower over the entrance.
The Whiteladies Picture House is a cinema on Whiteladies Road in Clifton, Bristol, England.
The Albert Hall is a period Victorian theatre in Llandrindod Wells in Powys, Wales. Originally built as a church hall in 1896, it became a theatre in 1922, with the addition of an art-deco foyer. The exterior of the building, foyer and auditorium remain to this day much as they were then.
Komedia is an arts and entertainment company which operates venues in the United Kingdom at Brighton and Bath, and a management and production company Komedia Entertainment. Beyond hosting live comedy, the venues also host music, cabaret, theatre and shows for children, featuring local, national and international performers. The Brighton and Bath venues operate cinemas within their buildings in partnership with Picturehouse. Komedia also creates broadcast comedy and has most notably co-produced and hosted the live recordings of seven series of the Sony Award-winning Count Arthur Strong's Radio Show! for BBC Radio 4 and is a co-producer on BBC1's sitcom Count Arthur Strong.
Aberystwyth Arts Centre is an arts centre in Wales, located on Aberystwyth University's Penglais campus. One of the largest in Wales, it comprises a theatre, concert hall, studio and cinema, as well as four gallery spaces and cafés, bars, and shops.
Sheringham Little Theatre is a theatre in Sheringham, Norfolk, England. It stages live theatre and music, and film screenings.
The Plaza is a Grade II* listed art deco single-screen cinema and theatre in Mersey Square, Stockport, England. It opened in 1932, its construction having involved the excavation of the sandstone cliff behind it. After an initial closure in 1966 and a subsequent period in use as a bingo hall by Rank Leiure, it has now been restored as a cinema and theatre, showing films and staging live shows.
The Hyde Park Picture House is a cinema and Grade II listed building in the Hyde Park area of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Built by Thomas Winn & Sons, it opened on 7 November 1914. It features many original features, such as an ornate balcony and external box office, and is the only remaining gaslit cinema in the United Kingdom. Following the installation of "comfier seating", the Picture House has a capacity of 275, down from around 587 on opening.
A Victorian Clock Tower located in the heart of the Triangle shopping centre in Clevedon, Somerset, England. It has been designated as a Grade II listed building.
The Savoy Theatre, Church Street, Monmouth is a theatre and cinema, reputedly the oldest working theatre site in Wales. It has a capacity for 360 people and is run by a charitable trust. One of 24 buildings on the Monmouth Heritage Trail, the theatre is a Grade II* listed building.
The Cradley Heath Workers' Institute was built between 1911 and 1912 in Lomey Town, Cradley Heath, West Midlands, England. It was built as a social centre for the people of Cradley Heath and surrounding areas within the Black Country, intended to become a venue for educational meetings and lectures. It also housed Union offices, where members could come to seek guidance, and from which the Contributory Unemployment Fund would be distributed. In 2006 the building was threatened by a bypass and so was moved to the Black Country Living Museum in a collaborative project including Sandwell MBC, Midlands TUC and funded by the community and the Heritage Lottery Fund.
The Curzon Memories App is a locative media mobile app based at the Curzon Community Cinema, Clevedon, UK. The cinema celebrated its centenary in April 2012 and is one of the oldest continuously operating independent cinemas in the UK. The app was developed as part of an academic practice-based research project by Charlotte Crofts in collaboration with the Curzon's education officer, Cathy Poole and was funded by the Digital Cultures Research Centre and an Early Career Researcher Grant from the University of the West of England.
The Queen’s Hall Narberth is a live events venue and community hall in Pembrokeshire, Wales. In 1970 the venue hosted Elton John’s first performance in Wales.