Devon Cinema Gazetteer

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SEATON

Town Hall

Opening in 1904 the Town Hall, Fore Street was designed by George Riches.  A cinema was situated in the Town Hall from around the First World War.  The people who were running the shows are listed as F Akerman, W H Crawford and E J Smith.  The operation would most likely have ceased with the building of the Regal almost opposite, so sound films were probably shown here.  The auditorium was rebuilt in 1952 following a major fire, it now has a dance floor and stage facilities.

Gone but not forgotten:        Regal

Opening in July 1934, this fine art deco style cinema on Fore Street was designed by the prolific Bristol cinema architect William Henry Watkins.  There was seating for 588 and a tea rooms was included in the building.  The proscenium width was 38' and British Thompson Houston sound equipment was in use.  The company behind the venture was Seaton Cinema Company. We may think that run down cinemas were a recent occurrence but the Regal shows us that poor maintenance and management could soon show its self in quite modern cinemas.  The café had closed during the war and never reopened.  In 1950 Mr W S Robinson of the Radway, Sidmouth was considering leasing the cinema.  He commissioned a survey of the building, some of the descriptions in the damning report are as follows: "Soiled and damaged fittings "Cracks and signs of damp "Coat hooks, one broken "Rusty windows "Very dirty throughout "Whole cinema in very poor condition "Main hall, some seats slashed "Managers flat above, toilet vandalised and soiled Apparently this cinema was still operating at the time.  There had however been new Kalee projectors installed in 1945.  Mr Robinson actually took the 21 year lease on the cinema.  By 1955 South Devon Cinemas Ltd had taken the lease and soon CinemaScope was installed with a 30' by 13' screen, seating reduced to 400.  The cinema was last run by C T Powell and closed in 1972. In 1973 the council were considering taking on the building as a theatre but nothing happened and in 1974 the building was offered for sale at £18,000 but no buyer could be found.  Eventually the building was offered to the council for £1.00 but a survey showed that essential repairs and fire regulations would mean an initial bill of between £23,000 and £44,000.  The building was demolished in 1975 to make way for Windsor Gardens.

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