Torbay Picture House
Encyclopedia
The Torbay Picture House is a currently disused cinema
located in Paignton
, Devon
, England
.
It was open in at least 1914, making it what is believed to be the oldest purpose-built cinema in Europe. In its early days it featured a 21-piece orchestra
, with each member paid a guinea
to perform. There are 375 seats: 271 in the stalls, 104 in the circle, plus three private boxes at the back seating an additional eight.
cinema at the other end of the same road. It was bought by the Paignton & Dartmouth Steam Railway, which is adjacent, who had plans to turn it into a passenger waiting area. However, due to the building's Grade II listed building status, it is difficult to make any extensive changes and those plans have been shelved.
More recently, there has been talk of returning the Torbay Picture House to its former glory, as a living film museum featuring films from the very first days of silent cinema
through to the 1950s. The experience would be further enhanced by staff wearing period costume.
However, discussions with the railway company have some way to go before the future of this historic building is known.
Movie theater
A movie theater, cinema, movie house, picture theater, film theater is a venue, usually a building, for viewing motion pictures ....
located in Paignton
Paignton
Paignton is a coastal town in Devon in England. Together with Torquay and Brixham it forms the unitary authority of Torbay which was created in 1998. The Torbay area is a holiday destination known as the English Riviera. Paignton's population in the United Kingdom Census of 2001 was 48,251. It has...
, Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
It was open in at least 1914, making it what is believed to be the oldest purpose-built cinema in Europe. In its early days it featured a 21-piece orchestra
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
, with each member paid a guinea
Guinea (British coin)
The guinea is a coin that was minted in the Kingdom of England and later in the Kingdom of Great Britain and the United Kingdom between 1663 and 1813...
to perform. There are 375 seats: 271 in the stalls, 104 in the circle, plus three private boxes at the back seating an additional eight.
Closure
The cinema closed down on 26 September 1999 following the opening of a multiplexMultiplex (movie theater)
A multiplex is a movie theater complex with multiple screens, typically three or more. They are usually housed in a specially designed building. Sometimes, an existing venue undergoes a renovation where the existing auditoriums are split into smaller ones, or more auditoriums are added in an...
cinema at the other end of the same road. It was bought by the Paignton & Dartmouth Steam Railway, which is adjacent, who had plans to turn it into a passenger waiting area. However, due to the building's Grade II listed building status, it is difficult to make any extensive changes and those plans have been shelved.
More recently, there has been talk of returning the Torbay Picture House to its former glory, as a living film museum featuring films from the very first days of silent cinema
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
through to the 1950s. The experience would be further enhanced by staff wearing period costume.
However, discussions with the railway company have some way to go before the future of this historic building is known.
Miscellanea
- Seat 2, Row 2 of the circle was the favourite seat of crime novelist Agatha ChristieAgatha ChristieDame Agatha Christie DBE was a British crime writer of novels, short stories, and plays. She also wrote romances under the name Mary Westmacott, but she is best remembered for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections , and her successful West End plays.According to...
, who lived at Greenway House, near neighbouring KingswearKingswearKingswear is a village and civil parish in the South Hams area of the English county of Devon. The village is located on the east bank of the tidal River Dart, close to the river's mouth and opposite the small town of Dartmouth...
. The cinemas and theatres in her books are all reportedly based on the Torbay Picture House. The name ChurstonChurstonChurston Ferrers is a historic civil parish within Torbay, in Devon, England. It contains the two villages of Churston, a coastal village, and the now larger Galmpton. It is situated in between Paignton and Brixham....
, a stop on the Paignton & Dartmouth Steam Railway, is used for the letter C in her book The Alphabet MurdersThe Alphabet MurdersThe Alphabet Murders is a 1965 British detective film based on the novel The A.B.C. Murders by Agatha Christie, starring Tony Randall as Hercule Poirot. The part of Poirot had originally been intended for Zero Mostel but the film was delayed because Agatha Christie objected to the script. The...
.
- The last film shown before closure was the deliberately ironic The Smallest Show on EarthThe Smallest Show on EarthThe Smallest Show on Earth is a 1957 British comedy film, directed by Basil Dearden, and starring Bill Travers, Virginia McKenna, Peter Sellers and Margaret Rutherford. The supporting cast included Bernard Miles, Leslie Phillips, Francis de Wolff, George Cross, June Cunningham and Sid James...
.
- While the nearby MethodistMethodismMethodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...
church was being renovated, the local minister used the Torbay Picture House for services.