Assembly Rooms (Whitstable)

• Theatre ID
  2184
• Built / Converted
  1868
• Current state
  Extant
• Current use
  converted to other use (community support centre)
• Address
  Horsebridge Road, Whitstable, Kent, England

Details

Built by J G Browning, who had built the house next door, the theatre opened as the Music Hall. It became the Whitstable Institute for Promotion of Literature, Science and Art, a multi-purpose room, inscribed as THEATRE AND ASSEMBLY ROOMS on the façe. Two storey building with arched roof; single bay with entrance at one side and two round-headed mullioned windows at first floor and oeil-de-boeuf window above in semi-circular gable. It had a balcony, but no further interior description has been found. It was later enlarged by taking in the site of Mr Browning’s house and a property the other side, and was used by the Whitstable UDC when it was formed in 1894. About 1909 films were shown briefly. In c.1920, the interior was subdivided, converting the first floor to a dance hall, leaving the hall underneath to a variety of uses, and as a club during World War II. It suffered bomb damage in 1940. Pop concerts were held from 1950-60. From 1960 the lower level was used as a supermarket for a decade, moving the entertainment to the hall above. Since 1987 the building has been in use as a community support centre. Today, the façe is plain-faced and parapeted in three bays, retaining the original arched first floor windows and with additional outer bays in the same style, obscuring the rounded roof from the front.

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• Other names
  Music Hall, Theatre & Assembly Rooms
• Events
  • 1868 Design/Construction:
    • J G Browning - Architect
  • 1920 Alteration: subdivided
    • Unknown - Architect
• Capacities
  • Later: 1910: 450
• Listings
  • Grade Not listed
• Dimensions
  • Stage dimensions: Depth: 1910: 17ft
  • Proscenium width: 1910: 17ft 6in