It's About Lincoln and Lincolnshire

Lincoln's Lost Cinemas

The number of cinemas in Lincoln grew until World War II, two were lost during the conflict, and gradually cinemas closed down until by 1988 there was only one commercial cinema in Lincoln. The same decline is now being reflected in the closure of public houses.

The Central
Opened 1904 Closed 06/03/1944

This site may have been used for entertainment in the mid 19th century. The landlord of the Green Dragon. James Budd opened Budd's Alhambra Concert Hall at the rear of the pub in 1857. Budd's wife died in 1870 about the same time that the Alhambra closed and before 1872 a new landlord took over at the Dragon.

The New Temperance Hall was opened on 20th October 1902 on St Swithin's Square, replacing an earlier Temperance Hall. It screened its first film in 1904 during the run of a pantomime “A Christmas Dream”. The hall could seat 1,000 in stalls and circle levels.

The popularity of the new moving pictures meant that the building went from presenting live theatre to full-time cinema use, it was renamed the Central Cinema. The Central Cinema was the first in the city to present a sound on disc film “The Donovan Affair” on 12th August 1929. The first sound on film was presented on 23rd September 1929.

An organ was installed in 1944, but during installation, the building was destroyed by fire on 6th March 1944. The ruins were eventually demolished in 1960.

The Astoria

Opened 1910 Closed 23/06/1956

The Corn Exchange was built on the north side of Cornhill in 1879. It opened as the Cinematograph Hall on 28th May 1910 and was the first permanent cinema to open in the city. All seating for 1,760 was on a single floor. The building continued to operate as a corn exchange.

A Western Electric sound system was installed on 6th April 1931, and the first ‘talkie’ to be screened here was “Third Time Lucky”. By 1934 it had been re-named Exchange Kinema.

The cinema closed early in 1954 for refurbishment and was renamed Astoria Cinema. “River of No Return” starring Robert Mitchum and Marilyn Monroe was the first Cinemascope film shown at the cinema. In January 1956, the Astoria Cinema was taken over by the Rank Organisation, and it was closed on 23rd June 1956.

Known locally as the "Ecky", thank you Mark Robinson.

The Grand
Opened: 1911 Closed 21/02/1960

The façade of Garmston House was erected in 1772 and incorporates parts of a 12th-century building, including an arch and a Norman fireplace of the later 12th-century in its north wall.

Located near the top of the High Street, at numbers 262 and 262a, almost opposite Grantham Street. The garden behind Garmston House ran as far as Hungate and is believed to be the site of Lincoln's second synagogue, built in the 12th century. Central Picture Theatres (Lincoln) Ltd, converted the right side of the building (262a) into Lincoln’s first purpose-built cinema, opening in May 1911. The floor was not on a slope as in more modern cinemas. In 1913 it was renamed the Grand Electric Cinema, and later renamed simply the Grand

The first ‘talkie’, Paul Robeson in “Showboat”, was screened on 23rd September 1929. The cinema closed on 21st February 1960, 'Gigi', Starring Leslie Caron, Louis Jourdan, Maurice Chevalier and Hermione Gingold was the last film shown there.

There were proposals to build a relief road through the site and along Grantham Street, it is not known whether it closed due to that or because of falling attendances. Fortunately, the relief road idea was abandoned, but not before the destruction of the houses of Grantham Street, but a Lincoln building with medieval roots was saved.

The Regal
Opened 18/01/1915 Closed 26/02/1966

The Picturehouse was at 217/8 High Street near the Stonebow. Opened in 1915, the Mayor, Cllr M A Ashley, with leading citizens, attended the opening ceremony. The film they saw was “The Fighting Strain of Old England”, probably very appropriate at that time. John Smith & Co's wholesale and retail grocery shop had traded there for the previous 70 years. Conversion to the cinema involved the gutting of the ground and first floors, the second-floor facade was retained. The Regal's first-floor cafe, with its balcony overlooking the High Street, was a popular meeting place. There was a seating capacity of around 1200.

It was taken over by the Associated British Cinemas( ABC) chain in 1930, and after a refurbishment, re-opened as the Regal Super Cinema in 1931 with Conrad Nagel in “A Lady Surrenders”. The re-opening ceremony was attended by film star Dodo Watts (1910-1990). A cafe was opened on the first floor (previously it had been inside the cinema) with a balcony overlooking the High Street.

ABC closed the Regal Cinema on 26th February 1966 with Julie Andrews in “Mary Poppins”.

The Plaza
Opened 1931 Closed 23/05/1943

The building was designed in a Gothic style by Lincoln architect William Watkins and built for the Freemasons in 1871. There was seating for 1,500 in stalls and a balcony. It was used for public entertainment and concerts.

In 1901 alterations were made to the building and it became the Empire Music Hall.

It was acquired by the MacNaghten Vaudeville Circuit on 6th January 1902 and was renamed The Palace Theatre, it became the main variety theatre in Lincoln, with many famous stars appearing there, including George Formby, Gracie Fields and Harry Tate. The Palace Theatre closed on 17th May 1930 with the stage revue “Lincoln Calling”. In 1931 it was sold to Central Picture Theatres Ltd., and re-opened as the Plaza Cinema on 26th January 1931 with John McCormick in “Song of my Heart”.

The Plaza Cinema was destroyed by German bombs on the night of 23rd May 1943, a night watchman, who was on duty at that time, was killed. The building lay in ruins until 1953 when the remains were demolished.

The Savoy
Opened 1936 Closed 20/10/1988

The Savoy Cinema, operated by Associated British Cinemas, was officially opened on 14th December 1936 by the Mayor of Lincoln, Coun J E Fordham. It was designed by Scottish architect, William Riddell Glen. 1,936 seats were provided in stalls and circle levels, there was a large stage and twelve dressing rooms.

The first film shown at the cinema was “A Tale of Two Cities” starring Ronald Colman.

'Henry Hall and His World Famous Band' performed at the Savoy Cinema in Lincoln on 19th March 1939; in aid of the Echo Cot Fund at the County Hospital;

From the early 1950s to 1971 many live shows were presented on stage, including many of the top acts of the time.

The Savoy was renamed the ABC in 1961

A Compton organ was installed as the cinema was built, it was removed in 1965 and installed in a private cinema in North Muskham near Newark.

In 1972 the stalls were converted to a Star Bingo Club and the circle became the cinema.

On 15th November 1986, the ABC chain was taken over by the Cannon Group, and the cinema was re-named The Cannon. The cinema finally closed on 20th October 1988 and was demolished in 1990. The Waterside Shopping Centre was built on the site in 1991.

The Ritz
Opened 1937 Closed 21/10/1981

The Ritz Cinema, designed in an Art Deco style by Leslie C Norton for the Segelman family’s Central Pictures (Lincoln) Ltd. It opened on 22nd February 1937 with the film "San Francisco" starring Clark Gable, Jeanette MacDonald, and Spencer Tracy. It was capable of seating a total of 1,750 (1,240 in the stalls and 510 in the circle).

There was minor damage to the cinema due to German bombing in 1941

CinemaScope was installed in the cinema in 1954, the first cinema in Lincoln to have it and the first CinemaScope film was “The Robe” starring Richard Burton.

The Rank Organisation acquired the Ritz on 2nd January 1956: it was re-named Odeon on 20th August 1956.

The Odeon closed on 17th October 1981 and remained closed, until in 1984, Barry Stead, an independent exhibitor, took over the cinema.

The cinema reverted to its original name and opened as the Ritz Cinema on 15th February 1985 showing Walt Disney’s "101 Dalmations". In 1995 it was converted to a triple screen cinema, closing 16th March 1996, it then re-opened as a J D Wetherspoon pub called “Ritz” using only the ground, the former circle and projection areas were closed off.

The Ritz Cinema re-opened at the end of 2013 as a 450 seat cinema in the former circle area.

The Radion

Opened July 1939, closed September 1939 due to WWII, re-opened 1947, closed 16 July 1960

The Radion was Lincoln's last single-screen cinema to open, and the only one built outside the city centre and had the shortest life. Designed by cinema architect and entrepreneur Major W J King in a modernist style. Opening on 27 March 1939 it closed shortly after the outbreak of World War II and was requisitioned by the military. Re-opened in 1945 it eventually closed 16 July 1960. The reason for the closure was not due to lack of patrons but because of the vandalism the building suffered.

The building became a supermarket and later the studio for Radio Lincolnshire in 1980.

Which was your favourite cinema?

What was the best film you saw at a Lincoln cinema?

Did you used to say "This is where we came in?

Please post your answers in the comments below

Monday, January 8th 1940

The Lost Houses of Lincoln - Boultham Hall

The landed families and entrepreneurs of Lincoln seemed to have a need to show their wealth and success by building grand houses. Most of the houses lasted for less than 100 years. There are several reasons for this:

The improved standard of living of the working class caused by improved wages in the factories and foundries, until the mid 19th century most of the jobs for men were on the land, and for women in service, most of these houses had many live-in servants.
"The flower of British manhood" was decimated during World War One, many of the men who were destined to take over the grand city and country houses were lost.
Many of the houses were of an age where maintenance costs were spiraling. The introduction of Death Duties in 1894 and increases in income tax in the early 20th century, by 1918 the rate stood at 30%, meant these houses were becoming millstones.
There was a severe shortage of building materials after World War One, building materials (e.g. stone, brick, wood, wood panelling and fittings) were more valuable than the standing buildings.

Here we look at the first of eight houses that were built for Lincoln entrepreneurs

Boultham Hall

Boultham Park was bought by Richard Ellison for his illegitimate son Colonel Richard Ellison sometime before his death in 1827. Col Ellison married Charlotte Chetwynd of Staffordshire in 1830.

The hall was built in the mid 1830s and the grounds were laid out. Part of the village of Boultham was within the grounds, this was removed.

A large ornamental lake was dug in 1857 and some Roman remains were found. The hall was re-modeled and enlarged in 1874. The architect was William Watkins of Lincoln.

Col Ellison erected a large monument, in the design of an urn, to Simon, his favourite horse, the monument now stands nearby in Simon’s Green.

Following Col Ellison’s death in 1881, Boultham Hall passed to Lt Colonel Richard George Ellison. Lt Col Ellison had a distinguished military career, during the Crimean War he fought at Alma, Inkerman, Sebastol and the capture of Balaclava. On his return to Lincoln he was met at the railway station by the Mayor and Corporation, who took him in an open carriage with 4 horses to Boultham, where they lunched, and “half the town had cheese and ale”.

Advert for the contents auction

Boultham Hall had extensive grounds: far greater than what we see today, what is now Boultham Park Road was a private road which lead to another private road north of, and parallel to Dixon Street and joined the road to a gatehouse on the High Street.

High Street Lodge, architect William Mortimer

The original High Street entrance to the grounds of Boultham Hall was where Boultham Avenue now stands, the road and land was sold in the 1880s for the building of houses.

A parallel route to Boultham Hall was opened in 1883, between Peel Street and Dixon Street with a lodge house at its head.

Lt Colonel Ellison was the last resident of the hall. On his death in 1908 it passed to Richard Todd Ellison who sold the Hall and grounds in 1913 to a Nottingham company. The contents of the Hall were auctioned over 5 days in 1913.

During the First World War, the house served as a convalescence home for soldiers.

After the war much of the land was sold for new housing. On 15 May 1929 Lincoln Corporation purchased the Hall and remaining grounds from J A MacDonald and D E Smith, for £6,000 for the creation of a public park.

During World War Two, areas of the park were planted with sugar beet as part of the Dig for Victory campaign.

Demolition of the Hall in 1959

The grounds were laid out as a public park, the hall was demolished in 1959. The only remaining evidence of the hall is a plinth and steps.

Lodges at the entrance to Boultham Park, built in the 1870s:

Top, north lodge

Bottom, east lodge. The gates are from Joseph Ruston's lost Monks Manor on Greetwell Road.

Ruston's initials can be seen above the pedestrian entrance.

Boultham Park Lake in 1933

Other Lincoln Houses

The Lost Houses of Lincoln - Hartsholme Hall
The Lost Houses of Lincoln - Eastgate House
The Lost Houses of Lincoln - Monk's Tower
The Lost Houses of Lincoln - Monk's Manor

The Lost Houses of Lincoln - Cold Bath House

The Lost Houses of Lincoln - Sibthorp House

The Lost Houses of Lincoln - Eastcliffe House

The Old House on Corporation Street

The Crooked House and the Harlequin

Grand House Built on the Sale of Drugs

Lincoln Companies - Lincoln Gas, Light and Coke Co.

History

Gas was first used to light a house in 1792. By 1826 Stamford, Boston, Louth and Gainsborough all had opened gasworks. It wasn’t until 1828 Lincoln Gas, Light and Coke Co was founded at the junction of Carholme Road and Brayford Wharf North, by a group of Lincoln businessmen. The company had capital of £8,000 in shares and a mortgage of £1,800. Production of gas began in 1830.

First Year Accounts

First year accounts show a turnover of £1,515 and a loss of £330. Wages amounted to £436. 76 street lamps were lit in Lincoln.

The First Private Consumer

The first private consumer was Cornelius Maples of the Bail. He had to give the following undertaking:

“Gas to be consumed in the shop from sunset until the hour of nine for six days in the week.

“I will not wilfully wastefully consume gas, and as far as I can I will not suffer the flame to exceed the height of 3 ½ inches, and I will not commence burning until sunset at any time and will extinguish such light within a quarter of an hour from the time here agreed upon, except on Saturday night when the burning shall, if I require it, continue an hour extra.

“The charge per half-year to be £2 per light, payable in advance”

The Cost of Gas 1830 & 1853In 1830 cost of gas was 13/6d (67.5p) per 1,000 cubic feet, by 1853 the cost had reduced to 5/- (25p) per 1,000 cubic feet. The amount of gas produced was 15,000,000 cubic feet.

Other Suppliers

It wasn't viable for the company to lay pipes outside of Lincoln, companies like Porter & Co of Lincoln, supplied complete gas plants to large country houses and some villages so that gas could be produced locally. Hartsholme Hall had its own gas plant, probably supplied by Porters.
Bracebridge Gasworks

Bracebridge Gas Works 1933

The use of gas had grown considerably over the previous 40 years and there was little room to enlarge the site at the Carholme Road plus it was becoming more and more difficult to get a sufficient coal to carbonise, due to the size of barges on the Fossdyke. Bracebridge was growing from a village into a suburb of Lincoln and the recently opened Lincoln to Honington railway gave it easy access to coalfields therefore it was decided that a new gasworks would be built at Bracebridge. The Bracebridge gasworks opened in 1876.

The owners of the gasworks had tried for several years to sell it. In 1885 agreement was made with Lincoln Corporation to buy the gasworks.

1885 Statistics
163,000,000 cubic feet produced
5,789 consumers
Main 35 miles long

The Cost of Gas in 1913 was 2/- (10p) per 1,000 cubic feet

Helping the War Effort
During the First World War a by-product recovery plant was installed to extract Toluol and Benzol for the high-explosive industries

Showroom
First showroom opened in 1919, later moving to Silver Street.

1933 Statistics
Wages £25,996, 102 miles of mains, 17,796 consumers, 1,884 street lamps, 12,242 gas cookers, 33,257 tons of coal carbonised, 14,014 gallons of oil used, 21,617 coke made, 412,275 gallons of tar, 324 tons of sulphate of ammonia, 560,000,000 cubic feet of gas produced an increase of about 25% over the previous 10 years

A New Gasholder
The rapid increase in consumers during the previous 40 years meant that the maximum storage for gas was only enough for 12 hours consumption.
Various types of gasholder were inspected and in 1930 a new holder of the three-lift spiral guided type was ordered to increase storage capacity. The capacity of the new holder was 1,500,000 cubic feet.

The End of Coal Gas
Natural Gas was found in 1910 in Germany, in the mid-1950s BP discovered natural gas fiels in several places in the UK, a field was discover near Gainsborough in the late 1950s. It wasn't until the 1970s that drilling for natural gas in the North Sea became economically viable due to the 1973 oil crisis. Since that time coal gas production has ceased in the UK.

The Lost Houses of Lincolnshire - Denton Manor

Blomfield's original drawing of Denton Manor

The Welby family has lived at Denton since the reign of Henry VIII. The first house was a timber-framed hall, the Manor had a Tudor oak frame within it which was probably from the original hall. Little is known of the houses between the first hall and the early 19th century when an existing house was extensively reodelled.

Denton Manor was designed by Sir Arthur Blomfield (he also designed the Central Library and Usher Art Gallery at Lincoln) for Sir William Earle Welby-Gregory, and built between 1879 and 1883.

Click here to view an 1886 OS map of the Manor and park.

The 1906 fire, flames probably added by the postcard printer

A fire broke out in the private chapel, caused probably by a flue overheating on 14th January 1906. The house was restored in 1906 but demolished in 1939 after another fire in 1938.

Among the fittings of the house offered for sale were:

Tudor period oak, modern oak and walnut panelling
A walnut panelled ceiling
A carved over-mantel having inset kingwood panels inlaid with mother-of-pearl by Van Ryswick
Walnut three-flight and other staircases
130 oak and pine panelled doors

The house was built of 100,000 tons of hammer-carved stone and 150,000 bricks.

"On the estate is a spring much frequented, from the medicinal virtue ascribed to its waters; it is very pure, and similar to that of Malvern Wells, in Worcestershire: it bears the name of St. Christopher's Well." - History of the County of Lincoln Vol II - 1834

The Virgin Mary and the Wain Well

Eastgate from Bailgate

The above image shows Eastgate from the Bailgate junction.

The present road runs east-north-east from Bailgate to the the site of the Roman east gate. The junction of Bailgate and Eastgate would be north of Gordon Road and would run directly east to the gate in Roman times . The road heading west from the junction is now beneath Lincoln Castle, the west gate of the Roman settlement is below and to the north of the Castle’s present day west gate. The position of the road was probably moved during the medieval period to enable easier access to the east gate of Lincoln castle.

The building on the right of Eastgate is The White Hart Hotel, a former coaching inn dating from the 14th century. On the left of the junction was an ancient inn, the Angel; a gate to the Cathedral Close stood at this junction between the White Hart and the Angel. The Angel Yard remains behind the Post Office.

Further down on the left is an Indian restaurant, this was once was The Black Horse Inn dating from 1674, the White Horse Inn was nearby.

Across the road, in front of the Cathedral, there is a stone wall which was once a row of buildings; there is a stone head in this wall, the head is possibly one of those removed during the Civil War by Cromwell's men.

In the grounds of the Lincoln Hotel is the base of the north side of the Roman east gate, the gate was still standing, with medieval additions until Sir Christopher Wray had it demolished to extend the garden of Eastgate House.

The Lincoln Hotel was built in the early 1960s, previously the Eastgate Hotel, and attached to the west wing of the former Eastgate House. Alfred Shuttleworth, the son of one of the founders of Clayton, Shuttleworth & Co, lived here from the 1890s. Across the road from Eastgate House once stood the Dolphin Inn and other buildings. Alfred bought all the buildings and had them demolished because they spoilt his view of the Cathedral; he did a great service to the City of Lincoln by doing this but it was very unpopular at the time as the Dolphins was a popular inn.

On the corner of Eastgate and Priorygate stands “The Rest”. The Rest is a late 17th century building which was renovated by Alfred Shuttleworth in 1899 with sham timber cladding. At one time it was available for use by people who had ascended Lindum Road and needed a rest.

St Peter in Eastgate church is on the left side of Eastgate. In common with many churches in Lincoln, St Peter’s was badly damaged during the Civil War. The church was demolished in 1776, a new church was built in 1781 but was inadequate for the growing population of the 19th century and a new church was designed by Sir Arthur Blomfield and completed in 1870. In 1914 the south aisle, west porch and the choir vestry were added due to the generosity of Alfred Shuttleworth. At the same time, the Nave ceiling was enclosed as a ‘barrel roof’, the Rood Screen erected and St. Margaret’s Chapel, dedicated.

At the Langworthgate and Greetwellgate fork, there was once a well, the Wain Well, which, on 11th August 1498, Joanna Burton fell in. The well was about 66 feet deep plus 6 feet of water so her survival of the fall seemed doubtful, “but according to sworn testimony of nine women”, she was in the well for an hour and she was carried from the well in the arms of the Virgin Mary. It seems strange to me that this wasn’t seen as a miracle, England was still a Roman Catholic country at that time.

The Lost Houses of Lincoln - Cold Bath House

Cold Bath House parish was created in 1837. It had an area of one acre and was situated at the top of the Arboretum at the junction of Lindum Terrace and Eastfield Road.

A windmill, Cold Bath Mill, had been on the site for many years. Robert Cottam was the miller until his son, George, took over in July 1839 on the death of his father, age 62. George probably died about 1865. By this time windmills were becoming redundant and steam-powered mills were taking over.

Henry Kirk Hebb, solicitor, clerk to the urban sanitary committee, town clerk to Lincoln Corporation for 30 years and chairman of the Lincoln and Lindsey Bank had Cold Bath House built in about 1867.

The house was designed by Michael Drury, the Lincoln Architect. Tenders for the erection of the house between £1,579 and £1,849 were received, the lowest price was from Robert Young, builder and contractor, his tender was accepted, a large quantity of materials from existing buildings was used. The location of the house perched on the cliff edge must have been very impressive. There was a room in the house designed to entertain the entire City County. A spring ran in the cellar, possibly the reason for the name of the area.

Hebb lived at the house until his death in 1902.

The site of Cold Bath House

In 1905 Mrs Matilda Richardson lived at the house, she was the widow of William Wright Richardson, a director of Doughty, Son and Richardson Ltd.

In 1907 all the Lincoln parishes were incorporated into a single Lincoln parish, after 70 years Cold Bath House parish was relegated to the history books. Cold Bath House was the only building in the parish and the number of residents stayed static at 5. This 1 acre, single house parish was the smallest in Lincoln both in size and number of residents.

During the First World War the house became home to the headmaster of the Lincoln School and its boarders.

After the First World War Cold Bath House became Mrs Swan’s Nursing Home.

The Ruins of Cold Bath House

The nursing home continued until 2nd August 1942, when the County Hospital and the nursing home were attacked by a German bomber. The main damage at the County Hospital was to the Nurses home, the operating theatre, the board room and the massage room, windows of two of the wards were damaged and some of the patients suffered injuries from flying glass. Mrs Swan’s Nursing Home was almost totally destroyed, the building was demolished in 1945.

A bomb also dropped on the allotments nearby on St Anne’s Road. It is thought the crew of the aircraft spotted the chimney at the hospital and thought it was a factory.

Unfortunately I have not located an image of the undamaged house.

A list of the dead and injured:

Deaths

Lt. Harry Sidney COLLARD, Royal Engineers. He is buried at Newport Cemetery, Lincoln. The Royal Engineers occupied part of the house during the Second World War.

Injured

R.S.M. Fred LEGGE, Royal Engineers

Lt Cpl. William James PRINCE, Royal Engineers

Sister D.M.B. CURRY

Nurse WARNER, 20,

Miss G.M. JAMES, a masseuse

Nurse Myra RANDS, 20,

Nurse GRUNELL

Injured patients

Mrs Irene HIGGINGS, 22

Mrs Daisy HORSFIELD, 25

Keith HINCH, 3 weeks.

The site was cleared and was a smallholding until late in 1952. The southern part of the grounds of Cold Bath House was landscaped and incorporated into the Arboretum to celebrate the Coronation of H M Queen Elizabeth II in 1953.