Victoria (Salford)

• Theatre ID
  1829
• Built / Converted
  1899
• Dates of use
  • 1963 - 1973: Until when not known.
• Current state
  Extant
• Current use
  Bingo
• Address
  Great Clowes Street, Broughton, Salford, Greater Manchester, England

Details

The theatre has a terra cotta façe - two storeys and five main bays with Ionic pilasters separating pairs of tall first floor windows. The pedimented central bay was originally surmounted by a small tower with a square dome but this has been removed together with the straight-sided pavilion roofs over the end bays and the parapet ornaments across the whole façe. The interior alone, however, justifies listing. The intimate auditorium has two balconies. The first has a raised rear section behind a balustraded parapet (a most unusual arrangement). There are two superimposed stage boxes at each side. The lower boxes are flanked by squat Corinthian columns, and upper boxes by draped figures which support arches framing richly scrolled plasterwork. The balcony and box fronts are divided into panels which contain gilded plasterwork. Spanning the auditorium between the tops of the boxes is a deep elliptical arch which frames a tympanum above the rectangular proscenium. The theatre was opened in 1899 by Sir Henry Irving. Pictures were shown as early as November 1901, and in 1913 the theatre was granted a cinema licence. In 1917 the Victoria became a theatre again until 1919, and then reverted to predominantly cinema use until July 1958 when it closed and was used as a furniture store for some time. Repertory was tried in 1963 but bingo took over in 1973. However, this, too, failed. After standing for some time in a disused state during the 1980s, the theatre was purchased by independent owners and reopened for bingo. The auditorium has been sympathetically repainted. There are substantial remains of wood sub-stage machinery with paddle levers and the construction for corner traps and four bridges. The grave trap is complete with its platform. The theatre has been used for ‘live" theatre location for TV and film. Salford provides a telling example of what can happen when the presence of a theatre (even a listed theatre) has been totally ignored in the post-war redevelopment of a city area. Improvements to its present forlorn surroundings are imperative if this fine Crewe building is to be seen in appropriate context. It is, on the other hand, also a fine example of the beneficial effects of bingo in providing life and continued care to a theatre which would otherwise certainly have been demolished in the 1970s.

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• Events
  • 1963 - 1973 Use: Until when not known.
  • 1899 Design/Construction:
    • Bertie Crewe - Architect
  • 1919 Alteration: refurbished
    • Mr Watson - Architect
  • 1923 Alteration: operating box built
    • Unknown - Architect
  • 1973 Alteration: converted to bingo
    • Unknown - Architect
  • 1990 Alteration: partially restored
    • Unknown - Architect
  • 1919 Design/Construction:
    • Mr Watson - Consultant: Interior Paintings And Tudor Café
  • 1899 Owner/Management: The Broughton Theatres Syndicate Ltd, owners
  • 1910 Owner/Management: Messrs J P Moore & Montague Beadyn
  • 1945 Owner/Management: Broughton Cinemas Ltd
  • 1990 - 1999 Owner/Management: K & M Leisure, owners
• Capacities
  • Later: 1910: 3000 1972: 774
• Listings
  • Grade II
• Dimensions
  • Stage dimensions: 1972 Depth: 12.19m & 0.61m forestage Width SL: 10.97m SR: 7.92m
  • Proscenium width: 1972: 9.75m
  • Height to grid: 15.24m
  • Orchestra pit: 1972: area with rail (now modified)