Palace Cinema

In the seaside town of Ramsgate, Kent, Sanger’s Amphitheatre was built in 1883 by circus king Lord George Sanger and was designed by an architect Albert Latham. The building also contained five shops and a small hotel. It was home to a demonstration by Birt Acres of his Royal Kinematograph as early as 1897. The very impressive building became the Royal Palace Theatre in 1908 following interior alterations carried out to the plans of noted theatre architect Frank Matcham. It had 1,823-seats in orchestra, dress circle and balcony levels. It had a 21ft wide proscenium and a 22ft deep stage. It was later converted into a full-time cinema with the arrival of the talkies, with “The Singing Fool”, starring Al Jolson, on 15th July 1929. It had been equipped with a Western Electric(WE) sound system.

On 30th July 1934 a 3-manual 6-ranks Compton organ was installed.

The Royal Palace Theatre closed during World War II. After the war, it re-opened initially as a live theatre, presenting summer shows and repertory seasons, reverting to full-time film shows in October 1951, as the Palace Cinema.

The owner, Highland Development Trust Company Ltd, closed the Palace Cinema on 29th October 1960.

The building was converted into a two-storey store. All traces of the theatre have since been cleared away.

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