Mara'S Scene Painting Shop

Mara's Scene Painting Shop is a carpentry workshop and scenery shop built in 1913 to designs by John A J Woodward, the London County Council's District Surveyor, and constructed by George Brittain, Contractor to the Duchy of Cornwall Estate. It comprises numbers 1, 3, 5 and 7 Newport Street. Numbers 1 and 3 served as a carpentry workshop for theatrical props and scenery, first occupied by John Brinskill, while numbers 5 and 7 housed the painted scenery shop, originally equipped with 8 frames arranged in pairs, and first run by William Raphael. The significance of this group of workshops lies in its capability to design an entire theatrical set, a rare feature among similar facilities.

The building is constructed of painted brick with a slate roof. It is two or three storeys high with irregular window placement. Number 1 is of two storeys with a cambered sash window on the second floor and five cambered fixed casements on the ground floor, along with double doors. Number 3 is three storeys with a hipped roof, featuring four cambered fixed casements to the lower two storeys, a doorway leading to the first floor, and a wide door on the ground floor. Number 5 has two cambered fixed casements and a loading door to the first floor, two cambered casements, and a wide door to the ground floor. Number 7 is of three storeys with a gable and kneelers; the second floor has circular windows, the first has two narrow windows and two narrow unloading doors, and the ground floor has three cambered casements and a wide door.

Internally, numbers 1 and 3 have iron columns and floor joists with cross braces. Inside number 5, four vertical frames remain, stretching the full height and width of the building, designed to allow canvas to be stretched and raised for the artist working on the first floor. These frames have a drop of 24 feet and widths ranging from 41 feet 10 inches to 49 feet 6 inches, reflecting the building’s angled shape. Number 7 lost four frames due to bomb damage, but remnants of the hand pulley system remain. The roof is of a scientific kingpost form. This is one of only four known early theatrical painting workshops, and the sole example retaining the facility to design and build an entire theatrical set.