The Palace Theatre

The Palace Theatre is a theatre built in 1891 by Alfred Darbyshire and F. Bennett Smith. It was altered in 1913 by Bertie Crewe of London and re-fronted in 1956. The building is probably iron-framed, clad with brick, and currently faced with buff glazed terracotta, topped by a slate roof. It has a rectangular plan and consists of three storeys and a basement.

The facade, which is in a debased modern classical style, is less notable than the interior. The auditorium features two tiers of segmentally curved balconies, known as the Circle and the Grand Tier, which have bowed ends and are decorated with a continuous series of cartouches and anthemions. There are also two tiers of boxes supported by standing Atlantes and framed by tetrastyle architraves of giant fluted Ionic columns. The ceiling includes a circular dome with a hinged lighting panel. The Circle promenade is adorned with Ionic columns and semi-columns, and the staircase doors have elaborate pedimented architraves.