Grand Theatre

LANCASTER

SD4761NE ST LEONARD'S GATE 1685-1/7/284 (South side) 09/07/74 Grand Theatre

GV II

Theatre. Opened as 'The Theatre, Lancaster' in 1782. Bought by Edmund Sharpe, who altered the building and re-opened it as 'The Music Hall' in 1843; extended in 1857; altered and renamed 'The Athenaeum' in 1884; fly tower added in 1897 as part of alterations designed by Frank Matcham. Damaged by fire in 1908; interior rebuilt by Albert Winstanley; re-opened as 'The Grand Theatre' September 1908. Projection box on roof added in 1931. Rendered sandstone rubble with slate roof. Main facade, facing north, has chamfered quoins and is of 3 storeys and 4 bays. The windows, which do not correspond with the present floor levels, have rendered architraves which were added in 1884. On the ground floor there are 2 similar window architraves flanking a central round-arched doorway. At the left is a narrower doorway with a similar arch, and at the right an architrave to a blocked doorway. Above the eaves is the added projection box. The south-west side has 7 round-arched window openings (now blocked) with plain stone surrounds. North-east side, of squared and coursed stone, has 3 round-arched window openings. INTERIOR: curved gallery front, proscenium arch, and ceiling have fibrous plaster decoration in a 'Free Renaissance' style. (Centre for North-West Regional Studies Occasional Papers: Betjemann, AG: The Grand Theatre, Lancaster: Lancaster: 1982-).

Listing NGR: SD4794061857