Opera House (Tunbridge Wells)

• Theatre ID
  1988
• Built / Converted
  1902
• Current state
  Extant
• Current use
  converted to other use (pub)
• Address
  Mount Pleasant Road, Tunbridge Wells, Kent, TN1, England

Details

This is one of Britain’s finest ‘Sleeping Beauties’ and one which, in 1995-7 showed every promise of being awakened to active theatrical life. The fact that it is now a pub (albeit a splendid one, restored and furnished with unusual care) contains an object lesson about a major weakness in the protective measures applied to theatres, and also a warning that noisy conflict is not always the best way to get results. There is no space in this place to tell the whole story but one point needs to be heavily underlined: A vital aid to theatre preservation is the fact that theatres in use as such are in none of the defined planning use classes and, therefore, any change of use needs planning permission. When, however, as in this case, a non-theatre use is already well established, then further changes may be difficult to resist. Changes within the established use class do not require permission at all. The listed building consent processes provide an additional defence for listed theatres, but if the proposed works preserve the special interest and do no permanent harm to future theatre potential, consent is likely to be granted. The fact that a different applicant with different ideas might be preferred is not, without other cogent supporting reasons, a watertight reason for refusal. This (and a number of serious tactical errors) have resulted in a theatre which was ripe for recovery, of the right size and in the right place, being lost in favour of a use which could have found a perfectly acceptable home elsewhere. The grandiose design of the exterior (which is a real event in the townscape) is quite misleading as it gives the impression of being the front of a major theatre with 2,000 rather than only approximately 750 seats (to present seating standards). The style is a mixture of Edwardian Baroque and Neo-Georgian carried out in brick with ample stone dressings. The theatre is in the centre of an island block, most of which was developed at the same time. Its entrance is, in fact, only the centrepiece of a 23-bay symmetrically composed composition housing shops with two storeys of offices above. It is in the form of a single, wide bay, flanked by coupled pilasters above the ground floor carrying a broken pediment and framing a deep niche with a projecting balcony. Set back above the pediment and dominating the façe is a big Baroque dome. Flanking this centrepiece, on either side, are three plain bays with ground floor shop fronts, and then giant coupled pilasters surmounted by steep pediments. Beyond these, on either side, are two further groups of three plain bays, defined by rusticated pilasters, before the curved ends of the façe which are emphasized by subsidiary domes. After all this bombast it comes as a surprise to enter the small foyer and intimate auditorium which suffered very little damage from its previous bingo use. The auditorium has two slightly curved balconies of six and eight rows each with straight slips running to ranges of superimposed boxes - four on each side. The upper boxes have gryphons at the head of each subdividing pilaster. The proscenium is rectangular with elaborately scrolled brackets in the corners and a curved pedimental tablet above the centre. The main ceiling is in the form of a panelled saucer-dome set within a richly moulded rectangular frame. Over the stage (now a bar) the grid and fly floors remain visible. The theatre could have made an excellent home for a repertory company with occasional touring opera, ballet, etc.

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• Events
  • 1902 Design/Construction:
    • John Briggs - Architect
  • 1996 Alteration: converted to Wetherspoons pub
    • Unknown - Architect
  • 1996 Owner/Management: Wetherspoons (as pub)
• Capacities
  • Original: c.1100
  • Later: 1912: 1100
• Listings
  • Grade II*
• Stage type
  • Rake
• Dimensions
  • Stage dimensions: Depth: 32ft
  • Proscenium width: 28ft
  • Height to grid: 44ft