Treading the Silver Screen

People love being entertained and from the 1600s onwards, theatres and playhouses – followed by music halls in the 1700s – were all popular.  These remained entertainment stalwarts until the interwar years when cinema, radio, and the gramophone began to come to the fore. This exhibition looks at these entertainments using archive material, so grab your Kia-ora (“It’s too orangey for crows!”), Poppets and popcorn from the usherette and settle down to a blockbuster matinee presentation!

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The earliest references to minstrels are contained within the Gloucester Borough Bailiffs’ Accounts for 1393-4.  These comprises lines written upon one parchment sheet that is damaged and the text is sadly faded and almost unreadable.  There are several entries, mostly written as ‘soluti pro diversis ministrallis’ – ‘Paid out for various minstrels’.  Henceforth minstrels appear in the borough records at regular intervals – many were those of various noblemen; the Duke of Gloucester, the Earl of March and the Lord’s Steward – this entry in the Chamberlains’ Accounts for 1560 is typical: 

 ‘Also given in rewarde to my Iustice Trogmerton his mynstrelles in redye moneye ijs’  

These ‘mynstrelles’ belonged to Sir Nicholas Throckmorton of Coughton Court, a diplomat and politician, who was an ambassador to France and later Scotland.  The minstrels were probably entertaining the Mayor and burgesses of the borough rather than the general population.  The amount paid came to about £23 today.   

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Christmas plays were always popular with the borough and public alike.  This entry in the Gloucester Borough Chamberlains Accounts for 1550 records Sir Anthony Kyngeston’s players performing an ‘abbott of Mysrule’ play at Christmas, for which he received 10s – about £137 – while the company got 5s (about £68). 

‘Also in reward gevyn to maister kyngestons abbot of Mysrule Commyng to the Citie of Gloucester in the Cristemas tyme by the Commaundement of the maior x s. Also in reward gevyn to the players of the said maister kyngeston by the Commaundment of the maior by the tyme of this present accompte v s’ 

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First recorded in 1230, the Boothall on lower Westgate Street and was the centre of civic administration for medieval Gloucester.  By the 1300s, an inn – possibly called ‘The Bear’ but later known as ‘The Boothall Inn’– was part of the building.  From the mid-1500s the Boothall was used by visiting companies of players and hosted concerts which became regular events until the early 1800s.  Because the Boothall was a working building that acted as a court and office space for the Borough, when it was used to put on plays, a stage had to be built.  This entry from the Chamberlain’s Accounts for 1559 records that: 

‘Also in money payed for a hundred of bordenayles to make a Scaffolde in the Bothall for Quenes maiestes players – id. Also payed to John battye carpenter & he fellow for the making of the seide Scaffolde – iiijd’ 

In today’s money the nails cost £1.14 while the labour cost £4.58!

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A jester was part of the household of a nobleman or monarch whose purpose was to entertain guests to their court – but these jesters often travelled around the country and entertained common folk at fairs and markets.  These two entries in the Borough’s Chamberlains’ Accounts record two such visits to Gloucester; 

‘And in money likewise gevyn in reward to a geister of the kynges maiesties & an other Commyng with him by Commaundement of maister maire vs’ 

‘Also in reward gevyn to the Quenes Geister by the Commaundement of maister maire iiis iiijd’ 

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Throughout the 16th century there were frequent visits of companies of players to Gloucester.  This entry from the Chamberlains’ Account for 1560 is typical: 

‘Also geven in Rewarde to the lorde Roberte dudleyes playores at mr mayores commaundemente in Redye moneye vj s viij d.  Also geven in rewarde to Sir Androwe ffortescues players at mr mayores commaundemente in redye moneye by Iohn Smythe iiij s’

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Wandering entertainers had to be wary not to fall foul of the Tudor anti-vagrancy laws – which could see them imprisoned and whipped out of towns.  This entry from Gloucester Borough’s Court of Aldermans’ Order Book in 1624 relates to four entertainers who came to the city and had to show their commission from the Crown’s ‘Master of the Revels’ to get permission to perform in the city.    

‘At which time one Henry Sandes with three others brought a commission under Sir Henry Harberts hand & seal, Master of the Revels & requested Mr Mayor to let them play according to their commission, which commission was dated the 18th day of September Anno Regni Regis 22nd year of James I directed to the said Henry Sandes, Alexander Baker & Robert Barker – confessed his name was Barker & not Baker - & they had with them one Jarvis Tennatt a minstrel.’ 

While Jarvis Tennatt was identified as a ‘mynstrell’, the other four men Henry Sandes, Alexander Baker, Robert Barker were probably the actors in the company. 

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Plays and performances were often curtailed when plague about to prevent its spread.  This account from the minutes of the Manor and Hundred court of Cheltenham records that on the 17 January 1611, Guido Dobbins, Richard Clerke and their fellow players marched through Cheltenham banging a drum and proclaiming, ‘that whosoever would heere a play should comme to the sign of crowne’, which was an inn in Charlton Kings.  However, as there was plague in Tredington and Prestbury, Cheltenham’s town bailiff stopped them and prohibited the performance.  However, when the men later tried to perform their play at The Crowne, they were arrested and subsequently fined by the manorial court. 

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From the 1700s onwards, theatres began to appear in most county towns.  In Gloucester, as well as the Tolsey, the Boothall and The Bell, a new theatre – whose name isn’t recorded - opened in a building in Barton Street in 1763.  The Rev. Robert Gegg of Ashleworth noted the opening and wrote in his diary about ‘a company of strolling players’ who came to the theatre and were distributing leaflets around the town.  They had previously been reported at Shepton Mallet and at Painswick.  However just 20 years later in 1784, the theatre manager, Samuel Ryley, described it as 'a melancholy, inconvenient place, which, when filled, would not hold more than thirty-five pounds’. 

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D10820/E1-1/aa courtesy Bingham Trust 

Early entertainments in Cirencester were few, probably because the abbey exercised almost tyrannical control over the town.  However, by the 1800s a theatre had opened in Gloucester Street – which was run by the impresario John Boles Watson and his family from Cheltenham.  Over the years performers ranging from the Siddonses and the Kembles and Charlotte Charke to child stars Master Betty and Miss Fisher and tightrope walker John Richer all appeared.  This 1830 playbill features ‘Miss Foote’ – aka Maria Foote (later Countess of Harrington), a prominent English actress (albeit of limited ability) – who was most famous for her sensational 1824 breach-of-promise trial against a wealthy suitor, when she won £3,000 damages!

1924 2nd Edition OS map, reproduced with the acknowledgement of the Ordnance Survey 

Cinema was called ‘the pictures’ as a shortened version of the phrase "moving pictures“, while early films were also known as ‘the flicks’ because early film projectors had a large advance time between frames making the screen appear to flicker.  In 1907 The King’s Theatre & Opera House (the old Boothall) got a new lease of life as it was converted into a cinema being renamed The King's Hall Picture House.  In this guise it presented ‘cine-variety’ until it closed in 1914.  ‘Cine variety’ was a form of entertainment between 1900-1930 which combined live stage acts and the screening of silent or early talkies for a single admission price - the acts included comedy routines, acrobats, singers, entertainers and magicians and very often stars of film, radio, or variety theatre would be among the cast.  This cinema reopened in 1918 being known as The King's Picture House showing mostly films but also the occasional variety show.  By 1922, it had been taken over by the Cheltenham Original Brewery Company.  It ceased to be a cinema in the 1930s and remained empty for some time until finally being demolished to make way for an extension to Shire Hall. 

Gloucester Citizen, January 1923 

Situated on Barton Street this cinema was opened in January 1923, for E. C. J. Palmer aka ‘Picturedrome Palmer’ of the Gloucester Cinema Company.  The Theatre had seating for 700 people on two levels when it first opened, it had stalls and one circle.  It has a long history that in many ways is typical of the fate of most cinemas and theatre houses.  By 1934 it was operated by Cinema House Ltd and had been renamed The Picturedrome.  Ten years later, in 1943, it was bought by Associated British Cinemas (ABC) and underwent modernisation – which included fitting of new projection equipment for screening CinemaScope films.  In May 1955 it was re-named The Ritz Cinema, but when ABC opened their new Regal Cinema in King’s Square in March 1956, The Ritz went over to playing mainly re-runs of ABC releases.  In April 1961 ABC closed it – but when the Gaumont Cinema in the city closed two weeks later, the city council persuaded ABC to re-open it.  Business was initially good but soon tailed off and in March 1962, it closed for a final time.  It then became a bingo venue but in 1986 was purchased by the Gloucester Operatic & Dramatic Society who reopened as a theatre venue.  Since then, it has undergone a series of ‘yo-yo’ openings and is currently closed. 

Cheltenham Chronicle & Gloucestershire Graphic, June 1938 

Designed by local architect Leonard William Barnard, the Art Deco building opened in October 1922 as Cheltenham's first purpose-built cinema.  It seated 750 patrons – including 'kissing seats' designed for courting couples.  The cinema screened its last film in 1963 and over the next few decades, was a bingo hall, a furniture showroom, an antiques store and from 1988 a posh restaurant – using the original name.  However, the latter closed permanently in 2023 and today it is being converted into four residential homes.  The film on the programme, Gangs of New York is a crime drama film starring Charles Bickford, Ann Dvorak, and Alan Baxter.  Directed by James Cruze it was released on May 23, 1938, and was notable because Bickford undertook a dual role, playing a mob boss and an undercover police officer who takes his place. 

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The Picture House in Stroud opened in August 1914 – it was converted from The George Hotel, and it was just one of 5 cinemas that were once in Stroud!  It was a small cinema, with a cafe for its patrons, but it was equipped with an organ of unknown make.  It was later taken over by the Albany Ward Circuit, an early 20th-century chain of 29 film theatres across the south-west of England, operated by the pioneer Albany Ward.  By 1914, his chain was the largest cinema network in England, with a head office located in Salisbury.  The Picture House remained under its control until 1927 when, with the rest of the circuit, Albany Ward sold the entire chain to Provincial Cinematograph Theatres (PCT), which itself was taken over by Gaumont British Theatres (GB) in February 1929.  At this time, The Picture House was still a silent cinema but in 1932 it closed for a rebuild, during which time film and sound projection equipment was installed.  It reopened in 1934 but by this time the larger Gaumont Palace was being built.  When the latter opened, the writing was on the wall for the smaller cinema and it closed, being demolished and replaced by shops.  The advert for the feature film seen here, ‘Sweet Rosie O’Grady’ was a 1926 American silent comedy drama film starring Shirley Mason that was directed by Frank R. Strayer from a screenplay by Harry O. Hoyt.  With no prints of Sweet Rosie O'Grady located in any film archives, it is a lost film. 

D10820/E1-1-w courtesy Bingham Trust 

The Popular Corinium Picturedrome was one of the town's pioneering early cinemas, officially opening its doors in 1911.  As well as films, it provided local entertainment featuring early dramatic readings, stage presentations, and the revolutionary moving picture shows of the era.  As this programme shows, it also showed football matches – in this instance a recording of the 1912 Cup Final!  This was played between Barnsley and West Bromwich Albion at Crystal Palace on 20th April.  However, this was a nil-nil draw and so the game was replayed at Bramhall Lane in Sheffield on 24th April when Barnsley won 1-nil! 

D10820/E1-1-x courtesy Bingham Trust 

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The Electric Picture House in Wotton-Under-Edge began life in 1911 as an upstairs room of the delicensed Crown Inn.  Initially it showed only silent films but by 1920, demand had outstripped its capacity so in 1921, a new auditorium was constructed following the demolishing of old stables which allowed an increase in seating so that it could hold 220 people.  In 1930 it installed sound equipment – notably before cinemas in Dursley and Thornbury.  In 1947 the owners Mr & Mrs. Coe put the cinema on the market, and it was sold the cinema to Mr. C. M. Jenner, a retired farmer, who continued to run it with his daughter and son-in-law for over a decade.  In 1960, it closed and although it briefly reopened, it couldn’t be made to pay and so it became a boxing club with the auditorium repurposed for bingo.  However, after some yo-yoing regarding opening and closing, it eventually reopened as a cinema in 2005 and remains a cinema today.