Former Angel Cinema

Former Angel Cinema

The tower that survives today is all that remains of the Angel Picture Theatre, a purpose-built cinema erected in 1913 on Islington High Street. It was designed by H. Courtenay Constantine for the Social Service Educative Entertainment Co. Ltd. The remainder of the cinema was demolished around 1973.

The building was constructed in stone and brick, rendered in plaster and stucco. The dome and lantern are topped with a copper roof. The tower stands 100 feet high and is composed of three stages, each one bay in width, surmounted by a drum and dome with a small lantern. The architectural style is Edwardian Mannerist classical.

The main foyer entrance was originally located in White Lion Street. The entrance on Islington High Street, positioned at the base of the tower, was a grand entrance reserved for circle seat patrons only. The large auditorium itself was set at right angles to the High Street.

The ground-floor stage features a full-height round-arched architraved entrance with a console-bracketed keystone and half-column and half-pier jambs. Corinthian pilasters flank the entrance and support an entablature. The door and glazing have been removed and partially replaced by temporary hoarding. The first-floor stage is lined as ashlar and contains an empty round-headed niche with half-columns supporting a segmental pediment, flanked by banded rustication up to the entablature and pediment. A bull's eye window is flanked by foliated relief decoration in the tympanum. At the third stage, the tower rises dramatically above the skyline with four faces, each containing a sash window to the centre with a heavy entablature springing over a bull's eye window above; banded rustication marks the corners. The structure is topped by an arcaded octagonal drum with pedimented alternate faces, a copper dome with bull's eyes to each face, and a small lantern.

Little original interior fabric survives, although some plaster work and classical detail remains at ground-floor level. The splendid stained glass windows and entrance doors have been removed. The rear ground-floor is totally open to the weather, and a portion of the roof has also been removed.

The original cinema contained 1,463 seats and opened in March 1913. Its name was subsequently shortened to 'Angel'. In 1929 it was one of two cinemas to first bring sound films to Islington. Constantine also designed the Scala cinema in King's Cross in 1920. This tower makes an important contribution to the townscape, particularly in conjunction with the former Angel pub at No. 1 Islington High Street, forming the 'gateway to Islington'. During the period of its construction, it was considered 'the aristocrat of local cinemas' and represents the most luxurious cinema built in Islington at that time. Islington was one of the earliest centres of moving picture entertainment in Britain.