Coronation Cinema Now Snooker Hall

The Coronation Cinema, now a snooker hall, was built in 1921 by Clifford Aish. It features rendered brick with some steel framing, and the roof is not visible. The original design was a long, narrow, rectangular hall with an entrance under a first-floor balcony at one end, accessed by a staircase opposite the entrance. The upper parts of the hall are now boxed in with partitions and a false ceiling and are not in use.

The facade is archaic yet elaborate, consisting of nine bays flanked by broader end bays, each marked by paired pilasters at the upper levels over blind ground-floors with rusticated surrounds to the exit doors. The central bays feature paired Ionic pilasters and an alternating blind oeil-de-boeuf motif. The right-hand end pavilion displays the original sign 'CORONATION', paired Tuscan pilasters, and a first-floor oriel window to the foyer, along with a projecting canopy that has been reclad. The building is topped with a cornice and high parapets.

Inside, the original features have been preserved behind boarding and a false ceiling that was added for snooker in 1985. A staircase with gold-painted metal balustrading leads to the balcony. The nine-bay interior retains original and unusually elaborate plaster decoration in panels, with alternating squares and roundels, drops and swags, beneath a barrel-vaulted ceiling that is richly embellished. There is also an elaborate moulded cornice and a moulded surround to the proscenium. The present floor has been raised to stage level to create a flat floor for snooker, but otherwise, the building remains in very good condition behind the false walls.

This cinema is notable for its elaborate design during a time when 'super cinemas' were first being constructed. It is a lavish example for its date and represents a rare, hidden survival of that era.