The Shanklin Theatre And Former Town Hall

This striking building on Prospect Road in Shanklin originally served as a literary institute before becoming a town hall and theatre. The larger northern section dates mainly from 1933–34, designed by Messrs Cooper and Corbett as a rebuilding of an 1878 Literary Institute following a fire. The smaller southern section is an 1884 addition to the Literary Institute by E.G. Cooper. Both parts are constructed of rendered brick with slate roofs.

Layout

The northern section contains a large theatre adaptable to a hall, with a balcony, west foyer, and east flytower. The southern section comprises two main rooms arranged over two floors, accessed by a staircase on the north side.

Exterior

The northern part displays French classical styling. Its west front features a pediment over the central three bays, with the two upper floors supported by four engaged Ionic columns. The second floor has three multi-paned metal casements, while the first floor has larger mullioned and transomed casements topped with cornices. The end bays incorporate two pilasters decorated with oval medallions and swags, with recessed stone panels bearing swag decoration in place of second-floor windows. The first-floor windows in these bays are mullioned and transomed casements.

The ground floor projects forward to form a foyer with a flat roof featuring a modillion cornice. It is rusticated and has a central glazed canopy above three double doors with marginal glazing, approached by a flight of steps with two cast iron handrails. The side bays project slightly and contain tall round-headed windows with keystones. Beneath the northern window is a foundation stone laid on 28th February 1933. Beneath the southern window is a re-laid foundation stone from the original Institute, laid by A.D.R.W. Baille Cockrane Esquire, Member of Parliament, in August 1878.

The side elevations feature two round-headed windows to the west, followed by lower sections with circular windows at the top and round-headed windows below. The northern side has an external enclosed staircase providing access to the gallery. The eastern end features a tall flat-roofed flytower.

Most of the south side is obscured by the 1884 building, but the western end retains a fragment of the 1878 Institute. This two-storey rendered section has two 12-pane sash windows on the first floor, a taller pedimented sash window on the ground floor, and a pedimented doorcase with eared architrave.

The remainder of the south side comprises the 1884 Institute addition in Gothic style. It features a west-facing gable with end pilasters and a tripartite window on two floors with a curved pediment above. The rest of the south side has two double sash windows and a projecting section with a porch topped by a pyramidal slate roof crowned by a metal finial. There is a further projecting section of two bays with two double sash windows, and an end recessed section of one bay with a pyramidal roof with metal cresting.

Interior

The northern theatre building is entered via the western steps and has an Art Deco interior. The foyer features a moulded cornice and ceiling with a plaster sunburst pattern. The original 1930s wooden panelled box office survives, with two round-headed arched apertures. Marginal glazed doors lead into the auditorium, with side panelled doors and staircases to east and west leading to the gallery. The floor is tessellated with a Vitruvian scroll and compass design.

The auditorium has a compartmented ceiling with a central metal ventilation grille. The east and west walls are panelled and at the eastern end feature four oculi with stained glass panels depicting ships and other appropriate emblems. The western gallery has a balcony decorated with plaster shields. The eastern stage has a proscenium arch with stylised plume design.

The southern 1884 wing is entered through the porch on the south side. The porch has a boarded ceiling with chamfered ribs and quatrefoil carvings in the corners, and a multi-coloured tiled floor. A straight-flight staircase on the north side, with carved balusters and a moulded square newel post, leads to two rooms. The smaller western room was at one time used as the Mayor's Parlour and Members Room; apart from the six-panelled door, it retains no original features.

The larger eastern room formerly served as the Council Chamber and has a ribbed boarded ceiling divided into nine compartments with decorative ventilation grilles. At each end are wooden fireplaces with eared architraves and overmantels with mirrors enclosed by semi-circular projections with four miniature columns. The fire surrounds are tiled. The room is entered by two six-panelled doors.

Historical Background

The hill on which this building stands was crowned by a windmill in the early 17th century, shown on early maps. Later there was a sandpit, which accounts for the slope on the north side of the building. On 6th August 1878, a foundation stone was laid for the Shanklin Literary Institute by A.D.R.W. Baille Cockrane Esquire, Member of Parliament for the Isle of Wight.

This building was the last in a series of venues in the history of an institute that had started in 1850 with the formation of the Mechanics Institute, which had a library of 300 volumes in a member's house. This progressed to the Mutual Improvement Society in 1856, meeting in school buildings. In 1865 a new Literary and Scientific Institute was founded in Grange Road, which later became the Old Church Parish Room.

In 1879 Shanklin Literary Institute was opened, designed by E.G. Cooper and housing a reading room, library, billiard room, and an art class room. E.G. Cooper appears to have been a local architect. He designed Sandown Town Hall, built in 1869 in Neo-Classical style, which was originally a privately owned place of assembly.

A building is shown on the site on the first Ordnance Survey map of 1880, but the plan does not quite match a photograph from around 1880. This shows a Classical style building with the lettering "Institute" in the pediment, with a recessed centre of three bays behind full-height Corinthian columns with a central entrance, flanked by pedimented windows on the ground floor and smaller windows above, with further end bays and steps to the street.

On 20th July 1884, the Isle of Wight Times reported the opening of new rooms—a new Reading room and Amusement Room—raised by subscription. These new rooms were an addition to the south and are shown on the 1888 Ordnance Survey map, labelled "Institute", and also on the 1909 Ordnance Survey map with no changes. A photograph from around 1910 shows these new rooms added to the south of the existing Institute building, with a gable end featuring a tripartite window and the pyramidal roof visible behind.

In 1913 the whole building became Shanklin Town Hall, and in the same year the council gave the order for the words "Institute" and "Reading Room" to be erased from the building. In 1925 a serious fire caused £2,000 worth of damage. In 1929 Shanklin Urban District Council recommended spending £17,000 on structural improvements, but this was amended to £14,000 because Sandown Council objected in view of the proposed amalgamation of both local authorities. In August 1932 approval to proceed with reconstruction was given, and by the beginning of October work was well advanced on the demolition of part of the old Town Hall.

The alterations took the whole of 1933, and the official opening ceremony, to be performed by Dr Cowper, was arranged for 21st March 1934. The architects were Messrs Cooper and Corbett. The work included a flytower. During the Second World War the Town Hall theatre was used for dances. After the war the theatre put on repertory plays in the summer season and concert parties on Sundays. In the winter local drama groups and the Island Savoyards performed. Later the building ceased being used as a town hall, and the whole building is currently used for theatrical purposes.

The southern section from 1884 is of special architectural interest as an unaltered example of a pre-1914 purpose-built addition to a literary institute. The mainly 1933–34 northern section is also of special architectural interest as a rare example for this period of a provincial combined theatre and hall retaining completeness of design, including the proscenium arch, balcony, and rare survival of a foyer with original box office.