Savoy Theatre, Monmouth

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Savoy Theatre
Savoy Theatre, Church Street, Monmouth 1.jpg
Entrance to the Savoy Theatre
Savoy Theatre, Monmouth
AddressChurch Street
Monmouth
Wales
Coordinates 51°48′46″N2°42′52″W / 51.81284°N 2.71450°W / 51.81284; -2.71450
OwnerMacTaggart family
Capacity 360
Opened5 March 1928 (1928-03-05)
Website
www.monmouth-savoy.co.uk

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. [1] One of 24 buildings on the Monmouth Heritage Trail, the theatre is a Grade II* listed building.

Contents

History

The building in which the theatre is housed was constructed on the foundations of the earlier Bell Inn, in Monmouth's historic town centre. Originally known as the Assembly Rooms, the theatre was first granted an entertainment licence in 1832. It was refurbished as the Theatre Royal in 1850 under J F Rogers, and later became the town's Corn Exchange. It was briefly a roller skating rink, belonging to the White Swan Hotel, at the end of the 19th century, before reopening in 1910 as Monmouth's first cinema, the "Living Picture Palace and Rinkeries". In 1912, it was renamed the Palace, and later became first the Scala and then the Regent. [2]

In 1927 the building was bought by the Albany Ward theatre group, gutted, and reopened on 5 March 1928 as "The New Picture House". This showed the first "talking pictures" in the town in 1930. [2] [3] It closed as a cinema in the 1960s, later reopening as a bingo hall and again closing in 1983, before reopening for a time to show historic magic lantern slides. [4] It has operated continuously as a cinema since the 1990s. In 1989 Cadw designated the theatre a Grade II* listed building, the listing record describing it as “a rare and little altered example of a small cinema from the inter-War period in Wales”. [5]

Current management and operation

The Savoy is the oldest working theatre site in Wales [6] and is privately owned by the MacTaggart family, descendants of B. T. Davies who once owned 19 cinemas in South Wales and South West England. [7] It is leased to a charitable trust, the Monmouth Savoy Trust, comprising voluntary enthusiasts who operate the venue for the benefit of the local community. [7] The Trust were instrumental in preventing the theatre from closing in 2010. [8] The venue has no public funding, [8] and costs about £50,000 per year to run. [6]

In 2004, the Heritage Lottery Fund contributed towards the restoration of the interior decoration, which includes red velvet curtains, elaborate gilded plasterwork, and glass chandeliers. [3] The theatre has reputedly excellent acoustics. [4] It now shows a regular nightly programme of cinema films, interspersed with concerts, drama and comedy shows, [4] and also organises community initiatives and competitions. [8] In January 2012, it won a grant from the NatWest Bank's Community Force initiative, to help the Trust realise its ambitions of running an after-school film club for children and expanding its work with youth drama workshops. [6] The Savoy still shows up-to-date films, but it also hosts a wide range of theatrical and musical events.

As at December 2019 the theatre, together with three adjoining properties, No.s 18, 20 and 22, are for sale as a single lot, with a guide price of £1,250,000. [9] [10]

Related Research Articles

Cadw

Cadw is the historic environment service of the Welsh Government and part of the Tourism and Culture group. Cadw works to protect the historic buildings and structures, the landscapes and heritage sites of Wales, so that the public can visit them, enjoy them and understand their significance. Cadw manages 127 state-owned properties and sites. It arranges events at its managed properties, provides lectures and teaching sessions, offers heritage walks and hosts an online shop. Members of the public can become members of Cadw to gain membership privileges.

Listed building Protected historic structure in the United Kingdom

A listed building, or listed structure, is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, Cadw in Wales, and the Northern Ireland Environment Agency in Northern Ireland.

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Church Street, Monmouth

Church Street is a pedestrianised street in the centre of Monmouth, Wales. It contains a variety of independent shops, restaurants, commercial art galleries, and the Savoy Theatre. Until the 1830s, when Priory Street was built to bypass it, it was the main thoroughfare into the centre of Monmouth from the north-east, linking the market and the parish church. It was at one time the centre of the town's butchery trade and was known as Butcher's Row.

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References

  1. CastingCall: Savoy Theatre. Retrieved 10 January 2012
  2. 1 2 Keith Kissack, Monmouth and its Buildings, Logaston Press, 2003, ISBN   1-904396-01-1, pp.142–144
  3. 1 2 Monmouth Civic Society, Monmouth Heritage Blue Plaque Trail, n.d., p.20
  4. 1 2 3 The Monmouth Savoy Trust: History. Retrieved 10 January 2012
  5. Cadw. "Savoy Theatre and Monmouth Music Box  (Grade II*) (2812)". National Historic Assets of Wales . Retrieved 14 February 2021.
  6. 1 2 3 Monmouthshire Free Press, Monmouth theatre gets £6k boost, 10 January 2012. Retrieved 10 January 2012
  7. 1 2 The Monmouth Savoy Trust. Retrieved 10 January 2012
  8. 1 2 3 NatWest Community Force Project: The Monmouth Savoy Trust Archived 5 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine . Retrieved 10 January 2012
  9. "Church Street Monmouth portfolio". Rightmove.co.uk. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
  10. "A unique property investment, which includes a theatre, is on the market". Free Press Series. Retrieved 7 December 2019.