Kirkgate: The Palace Theatre (origionaly a Music Hall)

Details

Deposited Plan Number:no data
Date:1909 (became the Palace in 1919)
Plans Register:no data
Street:Kirkgate
Property Name / Number:The Palace Theatre (now Shout! night club), No 30
Area:Town Centre, HD1 1QJ
District:Kirklees
Town:Huddersfield
Grid Reference:SE 1465 1674
Building Project:The Palace Theatre (origionaly a Music Hall)
Type:Public
Applicant:Horsfall & Sons
Applicant Address:no data
Architect:no data
Architect Address:no data
Status of Project:no data
Contractor:no data
Contractor Address:no data
Work Commenced:no data
Work Completed:no data
Occupants:no data
Subsequent Alterations / History:Existing. Rebuilt after a fire in January 1936, re-opened 1937. Converted into a night club.
English Heritage Listing:no data
Location of Archives:no data
Buildings of Huddersfield ID:4062

Additional Information

The Palace Theatre, Huddersfield was originally built as a Music Hall by Horsfall & Sons with decorations by J. Binns & Sons of Halifax. The Theatre, which had a bioscope box included in its design, opened in 1909 and had an auditorium with a capacity of 1,614, with an unusual Pit area which was more steeply raked than the Stalls. The stage was 30 foot deep by 60 foot wide and the fly tower was fitted with 28 hemp lines.

In January of 1936 the interior of the Theatre was completely destroyed by fire but by the Easter of the following year, 1937, it had been rebuilt, this time by Roland Satchwell and Ernst Roberts. The new Facade was built in a slightly similar design to the original but overall the exterior remains much unchanged from it's earliest inception. The new auditorium was built on three levels, Stalls, Dress Circle, and Upper Circle, and there was an orchestra pit, full stage and fly tower, and 9 dressing rooms.

In 1959 the Theatre was converted into a cabaret theatre and then in 1969 an inevitable Bingo conversion took place. Bingo ran in the building for many years but in 1997 the building was converted by the HSB partnership, into a Chicago Rock Cafe and nightclub by boarding over the orchestra pit, leveling the stalls to stage level, and adding a mezzanine level. The Dress Circle and Upper Circle were left intact however, and the fly tower and grid still remain. The dressing rooms were bricked up but so much of the building remains in its 1937 form that given the will it could be converted back into a Theatre again in the future.

It is possible that The Huddersfield Palace is one of only two surviving works of Roland Satchwell and Ernst Roberts. The other survivor being The Alexandra in Birmingham which is still operating and was built on a larger scale.

In 2010 the building is under threat of total demolition due to Phase 2 of the Kingsgate shopping centre construction plans which have been on hold for some time due to the recession. However, the Theatre is unlisted despite advise from the Theatres Trust, and its future looks bleak. See this article for more information.

(Extract from the website http://www.arthurlloyd.co.uk/HuddersfieldTheatres.htm)

Approximate Location

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The red marker indicates the approximate location of this record. Green and yellow dots are locations of other geotagged records, where yellow means the building was subsequently demolished.

What's Nearby?

The following records are located within 100 meters:
RecordDistance (feet & meters)
Kirkgate: Public House95ft29m
Kirkgate: No 33 and 3597ft30m
Kirkgate: Amended plans of Basement and Outbuildings. Additions and Alterations to existing buildings. (1900) - plan# 703b 99ft30m
Kirkgate: Additions to "Fleece" Inn (1899) - plan# 70399ft30m
Kirkgate / Beast Market: No 6104ft32m
Kirkgate: No 37 - 41120ft37m
Kirkgate: No 26135ft41m
Beast Market: New Inn, Boy and Barrel 143ft44m
Kirkgate: No 24174ft53m
Cross Church Street: No 16199ft61m
Beast Market: New Warehouse, No 7 and 9 (1842) 201ft61m
Cross Church Street: No 18206ft63m
Cross Church Street: No 20218ft67m
Kirkgate: Lamp Post in Middle of St. Peters Gardens and Gateway arch to south of223ft68m
Cross Church Street: No 22227ft69m
Cross Church Street: No 24253ft77m
Kirkgate: Parish Church of St. Peter (1834) 257ft78m
Cross Church Street: No 7271ft83m
Kirkgate: Tenement Building (1911) - plan# 9520 278ft85m
Cross Church Street: No 9282ft86m
Cross Church Street: No 11302ft92m
Beast Market: No 11 - 15 319ft97m