Former Majestic Cinema

Former Majestic Cinema

This former cinema opened in 1929 and was designed by Alfred Thraves. It is a wide, three-bay building executed in Spanish style.

The principal elevation is covered in thick white render applied to form a pattern of rough semicircles, while the side and rear elevations are constructed of red brick laid in English bond. The roof of the front range is clad in red pantiles and the rear auditorium has a flat roof.

The building has a rectangular plan with a front range facing the street which contains the foyer with a kiosk and former WCs to the right, and offices and staff rooms to the left. The large auditorium occupies the rear.

The frontage is dominated by two square outer blocks on a brick plinth under shallow hipped roofs with deep overhanging eaves, moulded cornices, and tumbled-in tile creasing. Each block has a group of three narrow vertical recesses containing fenestration at the top and bottom, consisting of top-opening metal-framed windows with geometric glazing bars. Between the blocks the slightly lower, recessed central bay has a first-floor loggia with a pitched roof supported by squat brick columns set at an angle and surmounted by top-heavy capitals with oversailing courses. The wide, glazed entrance below is not original but the rendered panels above the door still survive, presumably to carry the original signage.

The return walls of the frontage are also rendered and lit by the same narrow windows. The long, subsidiary side walls of the auditorium are in red brick with shallow buttresses and irregular fenestration. Two openings on either side have roller shutter doors (not original), and the lower part of the west elevation is obscured by timber boarding. A tall aerial on the roof dates from the Second World War when the building was used for military communications.

The front entrance opens into the foyer which has a ceiling of delicate raised plasterwork in a simple geometric design with a ceiling rose and a border decorated with the branches of a fruit tree. A short flight of stairs leads up to the balcony from which the first view of the theatrical Baroque auditorium is gained. This has a segmental-vaulted ceiling enriched with ornate plaster decoration and panelled side walls. The curved ceiling beams, which divide the auditorium into four bays, are edged in cable moulding and have soffits decorated with swirling vines. They are supported by large tapered corbels enriched with cable moulding and garlands. Around the room is an elaborate cornice in the form of an entablature: the cornice is enriched with bead-and-reel, oak leaves and acorns; the frieze has crisscrossed ventilation panels alternating with square panels bearing a cluster of Tudor roses and leaves; and the architrave is decorated with cable moulding and strapwork. Each bay between the ceiling beams has large square wall panels with plasterwork frames in a strapwork design with an inner panel framed in a pattern of sinuous foliage. On the ceiling there are large crisscrossed ventilation panels with corners of vine leaf. The proscenium arch is square-topped with chamfered corners edged in cable moulding and decorated with large Tudor rose motifs surrounded by foliage, alternating with small thistle motifs. None of the original seating survives, and a floor inserted in the late 1980s has divided the former large space horizontally in two, cutting across the proscenium arch and plasterwork panels. These all survive intact in what is now the basement of the building (not inspected).

On the balcony two flights of stairs leading up to the projection room have closed panelled balusters and square newel posts with moulded square panels in Art Deco style. The projection room itself has a concrete floor (as film reel was highly inflammable) and retains square openings (now blocked) in the door and to either side for the light to be projected onto the screen. Other features of interest include several original doors with one large panel and corner blocks, in an almost early 19th-century style, and a room in the upper floor under the hipped roof which originally contained a lavatory (in situ) and wash hand basin (removed) which provided facilities for staff.