Theatre Royal (Lincoln)

• Theatre ID
  196
• Built / Converted
  1893
• Dates of use
  • 1893: continuing
• Current state
  Extant
• Current use
  Theatre
• Address
  Clasketgate, Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England

Details

There was a theatre (the New Theatre) on the site in 1806, built over a former burial ground. Replaced by the present theatre in 1893. Delightful and intimate auditorium. Two slightly curved balconies with short slips to superimposed boxes flanking proscenium. Good Rococo plasterwork on balcony and box fronts and proscenium, now in need of repair. Plain ceiling. Proscenium 6.5m (21ft 6in), stage depth 7.8m (25ft 6in). The dull exterior of 1945 presents an unappealing outward image and the theatre would greatly benefit from a similar scheme to that carried out at York Theatre Royal. Owned by Local Authority. Formerly the theatre of a resident repertory company who planned first a new theatre and second a renovation of the existing building, before going bankrupt in the mid 1970s. Now used as a touring house, this delightful theatre would benefit from a careful and sympathetic renovation.

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• Other names
  New Theatre, New Theatre
• Events
  • 1893 Use: continuing
  • 1806 Design/Construction:
    • Unknown - Architect
  • 1878 Alteration: alterations
    • Unknown - Architect
  • 1883 Alteration: alterations
    • Frank Goddard - Architect
  • 1893 Alteration: rebuilt after fire
    • Bertie Crewe & W G R Sprague - Architect
  • 1945 Alteration: entrance front rebuilt
    • Unknown - Architect
  • 1893 Design/Construction:
    • F de Jong - Consultant: Fibrous Plaster Decorators
  • 1867 Owner/Management: John Coleman, lessee and manager
  • 1867 Owner/Management: J Towers, manager
  • 1880 Owner/Management: Roberts Archer & Bartlett, lessees
  • 1885 - 1891 Owner/Management: George Collier, manager
  • 1889 Owner/Management: Ross Challis, lessee and manager
  • 1892 Owner/Management: Whitton & Ashley, lessees; William Bates, manager
  • 1893 - 1900 Owner/Management: Ross Challis & Tom King, lessees and managers
  • 1907 - 1912 Owner/Management: Payne W Seddon & Ernest Pope, lessees
  • 1913 Owner/Management: Payne W Seddon & Percy Tyler, lessees
  • 1913 - 1919 Owner/Management: and to 1932: Frank King, lessee
  • 1936 Owner/Management: F J B Butterworth, proprietor
  • 1949 - 1954 Owner/Management: Raymond Bennett, manager
  • 1954 Owner/Management: John R Dodd, lessee; Lincoln Theatre Association, proprietors
  • 1976 - 1993 Owner/Management: Paul Elliott Entertainments, lessees
• Capacities
  • Later: 1893: 840 1908: 790 1982: 485
  • Current: 482
• Listings
  • Grade II
• Stage type
  • Raked with 36 hemp lines.
• Dimensions
  • Stage dimensions: Depth: 25ft 6in Width 1912: SL: 17ft 9in SR: 17ft 9in 1993 SL: 3.6m (11ft 7in) SR: 3.6m (11ft 7in)
  • Proscenium width: 1806:18ft 1996: 6.55m (21ft 6in)
  • Height to grid: 1993: 12.8m
  • Inside proscenium: 24ft
  • Orchestra pit: Original 14