King's (Gainsborough)

• Theatre ID
  1472
• Built / Converted
  1885
• Dates of use
  • 1885: Until when not known.
• Current state
  Extant
• Current use
  Bingo
• Address
  Trinity Street/Lewis Street, Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England

Details

Opened as Albert Hall with stalls and balcony. Ballroom attached. After a series of improvements it was gutted by fire in 1927, reopening as a theatre in the same year. Stage removed about 1988. Three bay gabled façe with a cheerful mixture of classical details, facing Trinity Street. The central bay is set forward and framed by superimposed orders of coupled columns supporting an open segmental pediment at the apex of the gable, above which is a pedestal carrying a lion. Within the pediment tympanum is an oeil-de-boeuf. Brick flank wall of nine bays divided by piers. Next to the stage, right end, is a long low building, now the Liberal Club, but which could have been the original Ballroom of 1885. Internally the ground floor has been levelled throughout. There is a deep ‘U’ shaped balcony supported by iron pillars, which may be a survivor of the 1927 fire. The ceiling is barrel vaulted with Greek key guilloche on the longitudinal and cross beams. The original position of the stage is clearly visible. The grid is hidden from view. There is no external fly tower.

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• Other names
  Albert Hall, Royal Albert Hall, Albert Theatre
• Events
  • 1885 Use: Until when not known.
  • 1885 Design/Construction:
    • Unknown - Architect
  • 1891 Alteration: proscenium brought forward 2.15m (7ft); balcony lowered; other alerations and additions
    • Unknown - Architect
  • 1904 Alteration: proscenium front enlarged; private boxes added next to proscenium; fibrous plaster decorations on proscenium and new balcony front
    • Unknown - Architect
  • 1908 Alteration: auditorium altered
    • Unknown - Architect
  • 1910 Alteration: alterations (unspecified)
    • Unknown - Architect
  • 1927 Alteration: re-decorated; new dome shaped roof replacing former flat one
    • Unknown - Architect
  • 1988 Alteration: stage removed to provide space for a bar
    • Unknown - Architect
  • 1891 Design/Construction:
    • H Ward - Consultant: Scenery
  • 1904 Design/Construction:
    • Mr Terris - Consultant: Scenery
    • Curtis & Sons - Consultant: Seating
  • 1821 Owner/Management: R Kirk, lessee
  • 1904 Owner/Management: Arthur Carlton, lessee
  • 1908 Owner/Management: Gainsborough Theatre Co Ltd, lessees; Fred Leighton, managing director
  • 1910 Owner/Management: Leivers & Bennet, lessees
  • 1910 Owner/Management: Aug W Seddon Payne & Ernest Pope, lessees
  • 1927 Owner/Management: Sept G P Fenton & Branford, lessees (of Palace Whithaven)
  • 1995 Owner/Management: Liberal Club, owners; Suggitt, lessee
• Capacities
  • Original: c.1500
  • Later: 1908: 1000
• Listings
  • Grade Not listed
• Stage type
  • Rake
• Dimensions
  • Building dimensions: 91ft x 43ft 9in
  • Stage dimensions: Depth: 23ft 6in Width: 39ft 9in
  • Proscenium width: 22ft
  • Height to grid: 26ft
  • Inside proscenium: 30ft 8in