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King's Hall

2455

Part of a larger development including the Town Hall and Carnegie Library, the King’s Hall is the right wing of a symmetrical block in Arts and Crafts style. Stone under a pitched slate roof. The design was the winning entry from over forty submissions in a competition. The Town Hall is the central block and the library the left hand wing. The King's Hall (originally called the Assembly Room) and the adjoining Town Hall were opened by Councillor TJ Jackson on 27th April 1908. The Winter Garden was a later addition, in a different style. The foundation stone for the Winter Garden was laid in December 1912. Councillor Joseph Dinsdale opened the Winter Garden on 22nd June 1914.

The auditorium of the King’s Hall (originally called the Assembly Room) is a delight and consists of a small flat-fronted balcony of four rows with five bow-fronted boxes down each side with glazed rear panels and doors. Both the balcony front and boxes are richly decorated with busts of famous authors and composers. There is a barrel vaulted and ribbed ceiling with a lay light in three sections. The proscenium arch is elliptical and richly decorated with a Yorkshire Rose design and a bust of Edward VII in an ornamental frame at the centre. The stalls floor is flat and on the right hand side is linked with the Winter Garden.

The stage is deep and extremely steeply raked (1:10). Dressing rooms are below the stage. Orchestra pit is now boarded over and unused. The rear wall of the stage is gently curved with a high access door in the centre. There are twenty-five hemp sets.

The Winter Garden is a handsome rectangular room with an iron balcony with curving fronts on three sides approached by a staircase on the fourth side. Cove rises to large rooflight with ornamental aprons.

Built / Converted
1908
Dates of use
  • 1908 : Theatre and multipurpose hall, continuing
Current state
Extant
Current use
Theatre (Theatre and multi-purpose hall)
Address
Station Road, Ilkley, West Yorkshire, England
Website-
Further details
Other names
Assembly Hall , Assembly Room
Events
  • 1907 Design/Construction:
    William Bakewell (Leeds)
    - Architect
  • 1908 Use: Theatre and multipurpose hall, continuing
  • 1908 Design/Construction:
    Oswald Lister (Ilkley)
    - Consultant
    plasterwork
    R & T W Nelson (Ilkley)
    - Consultant
    glazing/plumbing
    G W Hampshire (Ilkley)
    - Consultant
    painter
Capacities
  • Capacity
    Current
    Description
    484
Listings
  • Listing
    Not listed
Stage type
Proscenium raked
Building dimensions: -
Stage dimensions: Depth: 7.6m Width SL: 7.23m SR: 6.2m
Proscenium width: 8.23m
Height to grid: 7.6m
Inside proscenium: -
Orchestra pit: None