Picture House

Situated in the small seaside village of Seahouses, in Northumberland some 15 miles south of Berwick-upon-Tweed, this short-lived cinema has proved to be quite elusive. It was sometimes listed in Kinematograph Year Books under Morpeth as the Cinema.

It is not known whether it was purpose-built as a cinema, or was an adaptation of an existing building. It is certainly a fairly basic structure, made of stone. It was opened by Mr. F.A. Wilcox in 1928.

According to entries in the Kinematograph Year Books, the Picture House was something of a latecomer, first being listed in the 1959 edition. It had been operated by Alnwick Playhouses Ltd. since the 1940’s. There were two shows daily, with three changes of programme weekly - and CinemaScope had been installed. A Western Electric [WE] sound system was used.

The Picture House was closed around 1962.

A photograph in the Cinema Theatre Association Archive, dated August 1974, shows a closed up building, with an old poster advertising a “Big Cash Jackpot”. So presumably it went over to bingo after films ceased. It has since been demolished and a block of flats named Chapel Court is now on the site.

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