Penultimate Picture Palace

The Ultimate Picture Palace is a cinema built between 1910 and 1911 by John R Wilkins. It served as a warehouse from the early 1920s until 1976, after which it was restored and updated as the Penultimate Picture Palace. The building features a rendered brick facade and a plain tile roof, with a simple rectangular plan that includes a single-tier auditorium facing a screen originally painted on the rear wall. Above the entrance is a projection box.

The facade reflects the straightforward design typical of early English cinemas, featuring a central external paybox flanked by an entrance and exit door. It is adorned with Roman Doric columns that support a frieze and a segmental top fascia board. The interior includes simple panelling that was once characteristic of early cinemas, making these once-common buildings quite rare today.

The Picture Palace, also known as the Electra cinema, was constructed for Frank Stuart, the owner of the nearby listed Elm Tree public house, which shares a similar style and contributes to a strong group with the cinema.