Royal Court Theatre is a Grade II listed building in the Kensington and Chelsea local planning authority area, England. First listed on 28 June 1972. Theatre. 16 related planning applications.
Royal Court Theatre
- WRENN ID
- grey-chapel-thistle
- Grade
- II
- Local Planning Authority
- Kensington and Chelsea
- Constituency
- Chelsea and Fulham MP: Ben Coleman (Lab)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 28 June 1972
- Type
- Theatre
- Address
- Royal Court Theatre, Sloane Square, London, SW1W 8AS
- OS grid reference
- TQ 280 786
- Coordinates
- 51.49256, -0.15637
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The Royal Court Theatre is a theatre built in 1888, originally designed by Walter Emden and later modified by Bertie Crewe. The interior was reconstructed in 1952 and underwent further alterations in 1956 and 1980. The building is constructed of red brick with stone dressings and features a painted ground floor. It stands four storeys high with three main bays, a central pediment, and applied Corinthian columns on the upper floor. The outer bays are adorned with richly carved cambered pediments, and there are round-headed windows on the first and fourth floors, topped with a balustraded parapet.
Historically, the theatre is notable for hosting the first suffragette-themed play, ‘Votes for Women!’, which premiered on 9 April 1907 and was attended by the Pankhursts. The playwright, Elizabeth Robins, became devoted to the women's suffrage cause during her research for the play and donated a quarter of her royalties to the main suffrage groups, although she was not militant herself. The leading actress, Edith Wynne-Matthison, also supported the campaign and co-founded the Actresses' Franchise League with Robins in 1908.
Local climate
Royal Court Theatre sits in one of the driest parts of the UK, with an average of 700 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 93% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 94% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 34 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 51% of listed buildings. Of these, 15 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
More on this building
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- Full EPC report — heating system, energy costs, size, glazing, construction etc.
- No sale records on file
- Related listed building consents — 16 applications
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
Matched applications, energy data and sale records are assembled automatically and may contain errors. Flag incorrect data.
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