The Electric Cinema

The Electric Cinema is a cinema built between 1910 and 1912 by G S Valentin. It is constructed of machine brick with a facade of glazed white tiles and a rendered first floor. The building has a two-storey, two-bay front. The ground floor features fluted Ionic pilasters that flank a wide entry to the left, a narrow entry to the right, and a central window, all topped with flat arches. There are also two blind semi-circular arched recesses with rusticated voussoirs and Baroque-style swags over the central window. Above this, the plain, rendered upper storey has a cornice and is topped by a dome to the left of the principal segmental-curved bay.

Inside, the rectangular auditorium is designed in the Edwardian Baroque style, showcasing ornate plasterwork and woodwork. It has a segmental barrel-vaulted ceiling adorned with heavily moulded cartouches and fruity ribs mounted on ornate cornice brackets, along with an elaborate frieze featuring floral metopes. The panelled walls are decorated with swags, cartouches, and richly carved architraves, and it retains original gas lamps. The Electric Cinema is noted as the oldest cinema with such a high-quality interior to have survived in Britain.