Newcastle, Westgate Road/Clayton Street, Gaumont Cinema

HER Number:
12837

District:
Newcastle

Site Name:
Newcastle, Westgate Road/Clayton Street, Gaumont Cinema

Place:
Newcastle

Map Sheet:
NZ26SW

Class:
Recreational

Site Type: Broad:

Site Type: Specific:
Cinema

General Period:
Modern

Specific Period:
C20

Form of Evidence:
Extant Building

Description:
The New Westgate opened on 31 October 1927. The lower storey was in stone with recesses for posters and there was a marble porch. The main staircase was in Roman stone plaster with ebony handrails. On the first floor there was an illuminated fountain (removed by the late 1930s). The parterre was on the first floor with 1200 tip-up seats. Under the balcony there was an illuminated dome. On the third floor was the balcony foyer, decorated in Roman stone and Italian furniture. The circle could seat 700. The cinema décor was Italian Renaissance in style. The proscenium was gilded and had embroidered curtains and pelmet. There were projecting balconies to either side. The projection box is unusually on the roof. This was Newcastle's largest cinema. In February 1928 Gaumont bought the New Westgate for a reported £70,000. Sound was introduced in 1929. In August 1930 the orchestra was replaced by a Wurlitzer organ brought from the Castle Hill Theatre in New York. From April 1941 the Westgate was twinned with the Queen's Cinema in Northumberland Place. It was renamed the Gaumont on 10 July 1950. It closed on 29 November 1958. Rank turned the building into the Majestic Ballroom in February 1959. It later became a bingo hall. Circa 2007 it became a concert hall (Newcastle Academy).

Easting:
2452

Northing:
6404

Grid Reference:
NZ24526404

Lats/Lons:

Sources:
Frank Manders, 1991, Cinemas of Newcastle, pages 55-58; Frank Manders, 2005, Cinemas of Newcastle, pages 121; Grace McCombie, 2009, Pevsner Architectural Guides, Newcastle and Gateshead, p 180