Rex Cinema

The Rex Cinema began life as a church having been built as a Scottish Presbyterian church in 1864 (the rear wall shows original stone work common to Scottish churches with the original form built upon with Accrington brick). The church closed and the building was radically altered and a cinema license was obtained by operator Matthew Raymond in 1912, and it opened on 25th November 1912 as the Salford Cinema.

The exterior is quite ornate for such a small cinema with the front and part of the side tiled in decorative terracotta tiling with ornate round windows with carved laurel leaves and swags. There is an ornate balustrade along the top with a cupola temple structure above a corner entrance. The words "Salford Cinema" are carved on a half circle ornate pediment at the middle top of the frontage. Seating was provided in stalls and circle levels.

The cinema changed hands in 1921 and again in 1937 when the name was changed to the Rex Cinema (even though "Salford Cinema" was clearly carved in the pediment. It was now operated by the J.F Emery Circuit for the remainder of its cinematic life.

The cinema suffered from the advent of television and the slum clearances which had taken most of the customers form the area. The Rex Cinema closed as a cinema in 1958 and lay empty for some time until August 1967 when it opened as… (yes you guessed it!) the Rex Bingo Club.

The opening ceremony was performed by actress "Violet Carson" better known as "Ena Sharples" from the soap opera "Coronation Street" who was also a one-time cinema pianist in the silent days.

The bingo stopped in 1985 and the building has come full circle and reopened as the New Harvest Christian Fellowship, a Gospel Church. In March 2021 the owners of the building evicted the church.

On 18th January 1980 the Rex Cinema was designated by English Heritage as a Grade II Listed building.

Get Movie Tickets & Showtimes

Recent comments (view all 7 comments)

Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater.