Devon Cinema Gazetteer

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NEWTON ABBOT

Imperial Theatre

Opened on 18th September 1913 by Newton Abbot Cinema Company Ltd.  This building was purpose built in a decorative classical style on the corner of Queen Street and Lemon Street.  Internally the cinema had a barrel ceiling supported along the side walls on columns with walk ways beyond, the layout like a Roman temple. There was seating for just over 500 with Western Electric sound.  The proscenium was 23' wide.  By the 1930s the cinema was run by Newton Abbot Picture House Ltd who also ran the Alexandra.  CinemaScope was installed using a 21' wide screen.  The cinema closed in the early 1960s.  In 1983 the auditorium was demolished leaving only the facade as a number of shops.

Picture courtesy of Stuart Kidd

Alexandra Theatre

This building was built as the Corn Exchange in 1871, situated on the Market Place, there is still a market hall behind.  The Italianate tower in Devon Limestone is thought to be original.  The hall was converted into a theatre around 1900with an 18' deep stage and 3 dressing rooms and cinema shows followed from about 1909.  The proscenium was 26' 6" wide. The first shows were part time however, cinema was firmly established when a balcony was added in 1927, followed soon after by sound,   British Thompson Houston, the cinema could seat 550.  At this time it was run by Captain Oakey.  After the war the cinema was run by Newton Abbot Picture House Ltd.  Occasional live shows took place and 3 additional dressing rooms were added after the war, along with Western Electric sound system.    A 22' by 10' CinemaScope screen was installed by 1959. When the company was wound up in 1960 Charles Scott, the manager, took over running the cinema and soon had quite a circuit of Devon cinemas under his control.  In April 1996 under Peter Hoare, the cinema was twinned, reopening 25th May 1996.  Screen 1, former stalls, 200 seats, and screen 2, circle area with 125 seats.  In 2003 the seats were replaced reducing capacity to 190 and 97 in the two screens.   The cinema remains today and is very popular, and Grade II listed.  The interior is rather plain.

Gone but not forgotten:        Empire Theatre

The Empire Music Hall was situated on Marsh Road and was run by Charles Poole, who introduced films to the programme.  The theatre was later run by Fred Clarke but closed around 1930.  It was later demolished and has become a car park.

Gone but not forgotten:        Odeon

The Odeon Newton Abbot was a rather odd building.  Construction had already started, by Paignton Picture Company when Odeon stepped in and perhaps the only pure Odeon feature of the building was the facade with four columns with three windows set between them above the canopy.  The Odeon signs set to either side.  The cinema had an imitation wood panelled ceiling with square art deco lights set into the ceiling.  The walls had curtained openings and a substantial if plain proscenium and wide stage. The cinema was designed by Howard Williams, a welsh architect who would in 1940 design the Plaza Port Talbot, a striking copy of an Odeon style exterior.  The builder was Hedley Howe, a local company.   The cinema opened on 17th February 1936 with 708 seats in the stalls and 250 in the circle.  The cost was £17,000.  The opening ceremony was performed by Urban District Councillor L Coombe and the first film was Anna Karenina.  The cinema in Wolborough Street in the corner of its car park did not make a big impression on the two existing Newton Abbot cinemas.  There were 3 dressing rooms and the sound system was British Thompson Houston. The cinema remained in Odeon hands until closure on 1st July 1972.  It became a car showroom and was demolished in 1983 for a new road.

Two photographs by John Maltby of the Newton Abbot Odeon.   The banner in the car park reads "Get the Odeon Habit" a company slogan of the time. Photo:        Cinema Theatre Association

Visit Odeon Cavalcade for pictures of Odeon cinemas including Newton Abbot Odeon

Gone but not forgotten:  Trago Mills Cinema 180

The 180 degree 70mm cinema system was popular in the 1980s.  By 1985 the installation at the Dart Valley Railway had moved to a purpose built circular building at Trago Mills shopping centre, outside Newton Abbot. Expensive to run and with a limited choice of films the operation did not last very long.  See also Buckfastleigh and Helston.

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