Walker, Church Street, methodist chapel (Vaudeville Cinema)

HER Number:
6219

District:
Newcastle

Site Name:
Walker, Church Street, methodist chapel (Vaudeville Cinema)

Place:
Walker

Map Sheet:
NZ26SE

Class:
Religious Ritual and Funerary

Site Type: Broad:
Methodist Chapel

Site Type: Specific:
Primitive Methodist Chapel

General Period:
Early Modern

Specific Period:
C19

Form of Evidence:
Demolished Building

Description:
Primitive Methodist Chapel. Shown on 2nd edition Ordnance Survey map. Built 1896. Seated 200. This Primitive Methodist Chapel was converted into the Vaudeville Picture Palace in October 1910. The architects were White and Stephenson, the owner T. Proctor. The picture hall seated 360 people. There was a small stage and space for a pianist. The pictures were supplemented by two variety acts. In June 1911 the new owner T.M. Miller increased the seating to 390 by adding a small balcony reached by six steps. In May 1912 William Baker (who already ran the Gaiety in Newcastle, the Coliseum in Whitley Bay and the Empire in Wheatley Hill) took over. Around 1919 he was joined by his cousin Thomas Roche who ran the Imperial at Tyne Dock. Sound came in 1931. The proscenium arch was lit by multicoloured light bulbs and had a pelmet with an embroidered crown at its centre. The Vaudeville closed on 2 August 1958.

Easting:
2910

Northing:
6449

Grid Reference:
NZ29106449

Lats/Lons:

Sources:
2nd edition Ordnance Survey map; Frank Manders, 1991, Cinemas of Newcastle, page 175; Peter F Ryder, 2012, Nonconformist Chapels and Meeting Houses in Newcastle and N Tyneside, a survey