Victoria Cinema
82 High Street,
Newmarket,
CB8 8JX
82 High Street,
Newmarket,
CB8 8JX
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Additional Info
Previous Names: Cinematograph Hall, Victoria Hall, Victoria Cinema de Luxe
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Located on the High Street of this Suffolk town. The Greyhound Hotel was opened in the 1860’s and was re-named Victoria Hotel in 1897. It was re-named Carlton Hotel after World War II.
The Cinematograph Hall was located in the hotel ballroom and opened by 1912 with 350-seats. It was soon renamed Victoria Hall. In January 1918 it was renamed Victoria Cinema de Luxe. It was in use as a ballroom in 1924 when Fred Astaire appeared here. In 1929 it was enlarged to hold 550-seats and reopened as the Victoria Cinema. In January 1930 it was equipped with an Imperial sound system. The Victoria Cinema played pictures and occasional variety shows on its 15 feet deep stage. There were two dressing rooms. The Victoria Cinema was closed around 1946.
The entire building was demolished in May 1977. A branch of Boots chemists was built on part of the site.
Contributed by
Ken Roe
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Recent comments (view all 3 comments)
I think that may be my mistake. http://www.newmarketlhs.org.uk/nlhscorrespondence7.htm states :_ “Newmarket has been home to a number of cinemas over the years. The Doric, now Millionaires bar and nightclub, in High Street, ran between March 1937 and July 1964. Innocence, the nightclub across the road, was once the Kingsway Cinema, while Boots, the former Carlton Hotel, was the Victoria Cinema. There was also once a cinema in Black Bear Lane. Newmarket has a cinematograph history and you can read about one of the earliest public performances on our website, under ‘Local Fire Tragedies’ this occurred in what is now Ann Furbank’s fashion shop on Rutland Hill (then the Town Hall) and resulted in serious loss of life and many injuries. Yes, the Kingsway and the Doric flourished betwen the nineteen twenties and the fifties, the golden age of cinema popularity. The Doric opened in 1937 and the first film shown was Will Hay in ‘Good Morning Boys’. Particularly during WW II it was usual to see long queues along the High Street for the evening and Saturday afternoon performances. With the advent of television, cinemas slowly declined. As the Journal article points out both the buildings now serve as Night Clubs.”
Confusingly the address of the Kingsway Cinema was listed as being Kingsway, leading me to identify this photo as the Victoria. I’ll amend the flickr caption. All three cinemas seem to have been on the High Street.
Thanks, Ian. I will remove my earlier comment as it would now be confusing as the caption has been changed.
Thanks both… Its good that we are working to get correct information for future generations