Empire (Bacup)

• Theatre ID
  2289
• Built / Converted
  1893
• Dates of use
  • 1893: continuing
• Current state
  Extant
• Current use
  Theatre (Amateur theatre)
• Address
  Rochdale Road, Bacup, Lancashire, OL13 9NR, England

Details

Situated away from the town centre on the side of a steep slope with entrance at upper level, through a completely plain and featureless exterior. The building was originally constructed c.1850 as the Henrietta Street Iron Works. The factory was plagued by fires, one occurring in 1867 and another in 1886 when the building was gutted and became dangerous. It was eventually bought in 1892 by John Walters and W A Love who resolved to turn it into a theatre. It opened in 1893, incorporating some of the external walls of the foundry. The back wall of the stage still has the derelict window frames of the gutted factory. Internally it originally had two balconies, the upper split into gallery and upper circle. However, in 1948 an architect’s report suggested that a pillar supporting the upper circle was unsafe (this turned out to be incorrect!) and the upper circle was removed and the circle tier continued up to the back of the theatre. Today the interior of the theatre is heavily altered from from its 1893 form, the obvious remnants being the cast iron columns that support the dress circle. The decorative finish of the auditorium is very dark and ‘pseudo-1930s’, probably the result of many unco-ordinated alterations, the main one being almost certainly in 1948.

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• Other names
  Royal Court Theatre, New Court Theatre, Court Theatre Picture Palace, Art Picture Palace
• Events
  • 1893 Use: continuing
  • 1850 Design/Construction: as an iron works
    • Unknown - Architect
  • 1893 Alteration: converted to theatre
    • Walters & Love - Architect
  • 1948 Alteration: upper circle removed
    • Unknown - Architect
  • 1892 Design/Construction:
  • 1893 Owner/Management: John Walters
  • 1918 Owner/Management: Messrs Jackson Amusement Ltd
  • 1966 Owner/Management: Star Holdings
  • 1969 Owner/Management: Bacup Amateur Operatic and Dramatic Society (current)
• Capacities
  • Original: 2000
  • Later: 1912: 2000 (Stage Guide)
  • Current: 485
• Listings
  • Grade Not listed
• Stage type
  • Proscenium raked
• Dimensions
  • Stage dimensions: Depth: 10.06m Width SL: 3.05m SR: 3.05m
  • Proscenium width: 7.32m
  • Height to grid: 13.72m
  • Orchestra pit: 7.32m x 1.83m for 18 players