Odeon Cinema (To Rear Of John Halle'S Hall)

The Odeon Cinema, built in 1930-31 by W E Trent, with assistance from F F Tulley, is located to the rear of John Halle's Hall. It is constructed with red brick external walls and has a corrugated asbestos roof on steel trusses over the auditorium, with asphalt roofing elsewhere. The building comprises a rectangular auditorium, with projection rooms to the north and a fly tower to the south. Access is via John Halle's Hall and 28 Catherine Street.

The interior decoration is in a lavish Tudor Gothic style, inspired by the need to integrate with the 15th-century John Halle's Hall. The foyer has oak panelling, door casts, and vine scroll ornament in fibrous plaster on the downstanding ceiling beams. The auditorium ceiling is of fibrous plaster, with ribs and beams that imitate wood. Painted scenes are flanked by Gothic arcading on bulkheads at two changes in level. The walls are plastered and framed. Large openings with plaster grilles flank the Tudor proscenium arch, accompanied by niches and doors set in an elaborate Gothic beamed ceiling that mirrors the foyer’s design. The cafe, situated above the foyer, features oak panelling, false timber framing, and a beamed fibrous plaster ceiling. A smaller dining room, created between the circle floor and the stalls ceiling below, has a beamed ceiling with sloping soffits and Tudor-arched alcoves fitted with oak settles and fibrous plaster fireplaces; one painted overmantle is signed "F Barnes." Throughout the public areas, oak doors and doorcases feature foliage decoration in the spandrels of the heads. Many original fittings remain, including "medieval" chandeliers. In 1972-3, the stalls seats were removed, a wall was built along the line of the circle balcony, and the resulting space was divided into two smaller auditoria. These alterations involved minimal changes to the original fabric.