Tameside Hippodrome

• Theatre ID
  1055
• Built / Converted
  1904
• Current state
  Extant
• Current use
  dark (closed April 2008)
• Address
  Oldham Road, Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, OL6 7SE, England

Details

Plain, red brick façe, typical of Alley, with sparse yellow brick relief and broad gable, remodelled and part-rendered when the theatre became a cinema in 1933. Canopy altered at the same time. The original frontage incorporated two shops. Previously a three-tier auditorium with boxes, but auditorium completely reconstructed in 1933; clean lines with one balcony, in plain Art Deco style. Stage retained with dressing rooms and stage facilities. Altered foyers; former cafeteria at circle level now a theatre bar. The adjacent Palais de Danse, also a Broadhead house, was constructed later than the theatre. The Pavilion Cinema in Old Street, located almost to the rear of the property, was also part of the Broadhead empire.

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• Other names
  Empire Hippodrome, New Empire, ABC, Tameside Theatre
• Events
  • 1904 Design/Construction:
    • J J Alley - Architect
  • 1933 - 0 Alteration: converted to cinema; auditorium and foyers redesigned; removing balcony and boxes; organ installed.
    • Drury & Gomersall - Architect
  • 1935 Alteration: facade redesigned
    • Drury & Gomersall - Architect
  • 1976 - 0 Alteration: refurbished; organ removed (architect unknown).
  • 1983 - 0 Alteration: refurbished (architect unknown).
  • 1904 Owner/Management: Broadhead Circuit, owner (on death of William, to Percy, son)
  • 1934 Owner/Management: Union, taken over by Union Circuit, and later ABC, owner
  • 1964 Owner/Management: EMI (as part of take-over), owner
  • 1975 Owner/Management: Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council, lessees
  • 1983 Owner/Management: Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council, owner
  • Owner/Management: Apollo Leisure, lessee
• Capacities
  • Original: 2000
  • Later: 1933: 1600 1983: 1262
  • Current: 1262
• Listings
  • Grade Not listed
• Stage type
  • Proscenium Raked
• Dimensions
  • Stage dimensions: 1910 Depth: 40ft Width 90ft 1983 Depth: 12.19m Width SL: 9.84m SR: 10.7m
  • Proscenium width: 1910: 35ft 1983: 10.59m
  • Height to grid: 42ft
  • Inside proscenium: 100ft