Old Theatre Royal

The Old Theatre Royal is a theatre built in 1899 by G E Bond, and damaged by fire around 1965. It is constructed of painted faience tiles and moulded decoration, with yellow stock brick, red brick dressings, and a hipped slate roof. The design is in a Free Italianate style with Moorish turrets.

The theatre occupies a deep, rectangular site with the front foyer and rear auditorium at right angles.

The exterior of the foyer section is two storeys, with a two-bay range. The entrance has a mid-20th-century altered ground floor. Above this is an open first-floor arcade of two paired round arches with a balustrade and enriched capitals. Dentil cornices run along the ground and first floors, extending to the right return. A raised open pediment sits above the arcade, with a central plinth flanked by octagonal Moorish domes. Behind the arcade are four round-arched casements with moulded surrounds and glazing bars. The right-hand return has two first-floor sash windows and a central chimney stack with curved side supports and ball finials. Further brick linking sections, with three and four windows respectively, extend to the rear. The rear elevation of the large auditorium has a central square tower fronted by a pediment facing the street, with a raking roof on each side leading to a tall hipped roof featuring square cupola vents over the proscenium. A lower, raking roof extends behind this to the auditorium. The rear of the building is irregular.

The auditorium has a central dome decorated with plasterwork swags. There are two tiers of balconies; the upper tier features painted plaster panels and molded cherubs, while the lower tier, although damaged, retains decoration of cherubs, swags, and console brackets. The boxes have been removed and the proscenium arch is blocked. The balconies are supported by cast iron columns, although the ground floor ones are encased in concrete. No seating remains. In the foyer, one tiled panel remains, likely depicting a character from Shakespeare. The original staircase features twisted balusters and a column newel. A former bar ceiling retains strapwork decoration and a coved cornice. The top floor retains some floral tiled panels and dado rail.