Prince Of Wales (Worcester)

• Theatre ID
  338
• Built / Converted
  1869
• Dates of use
  • 1869 - 1880
• Current state
  Demolished
• Current use
  converted to other use (disused, offices at upper level)
• Address
  Lowesmoor Wharf, Worcester, Hereford & Worcester, England

Details

In 1869 a foundation stone was laid for what was going to be the Canterbury Concert Hall - within a stone’s throw of the Alhambra, on the site of the ‘Navigation Inn’. Opened with stalls, and front and side galleries, chairman and orchestra. Had a ‘commodious oriental lounge’. A stage plays licence was obtained in 1870, but the place was run in the main as a variety hall. The frontage to Lowesmoor disguises an unusual triangular plan. The wall facing the street is not straight, the half nearest the town angling inwards to a position where the rear wall joins it at a point. The building as now seen does not look theatrical and its appearance seems to result mainly from its former Salvation Army occupation. The Salvation Army balcony remains, made up of three straight sections supported by iron pillars. It is not possible to say whether this balcony is a modification of that previously existing since details of the alterations have not survived in the Salvation Army Archives.

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• Other names
  Worcester Concert Hall, Prince of Wales Concert Hall, Prince of Wales Palace of Varieties, Winwood Varieties, Salvation Army, Vesta Tilley Centre
• Events
  • 1869 - 1880 Use:
  • 1869 Design/Construction:
    • A Bell & Co (Worcester) - Architect
  • 1869 Owner/Management: W H Harvey
  • 1869 - 1876 Owner/Management: John Hill Brook, proprietors
  • 1869 Design/Construction:
    • Phillips (Worcester) - Consultant: Scenery, Proscenium And Internal Decorations
    • Messrs Towell - Consultant: Stage Machinery
  • 1870 Owner/Management: Fred Lawson
  • 1875 - 1876 Owner/Management: Frank Finch, manager & chairman
  • 1876 Owner/Management: G H Gordon
  • 1876 Alteration: unspecified improvements
    • Unknown - Architect
  • 1876 - 1877 Owner/Management: Alf Foote, manager & chairman
  • 1877 Alteration: alterations and improvements
    • Unknown - Architect
  • 1877 Owner/Management: J Smallwood
  • 1878 Owner/Management: Frank Finch
  • 1879 Owner/Management: E Winwood, lessee
  • 1881 - 1889 Owner/Management: Salvation Army, lessee
  • 1889 - 1988 Owner/Management: Salvation Army, proprietor
  • 1889 Alteration: new platform etc
    • Unknown - Architect
  • 1906 Alteration: gallery altered
    • Unknown - Architect
• Listings
  • Grade Not listed
• Unreliable anecdotes
  Not to be confused with the Alhambra or Music Hall.