Building record 5050 - Regal Cinema, Northwich

The Regal Cinema was constructed in 1938 and opened on 28 January 1939 with the Vivien Leigh film, 'Storm in a Teacup'. The cinema was built by Robert Godfrey, owner of Cheshire County Cinemas Ltd, who had built another cinema in Northwich in 1928 known as The Plaza (now grade II listed and used as a bingo hall). Both cinema buildings have remained in the same family ownership since their original construction. The original capacity of The Regal was 1,059 (later reduced to 927) and a second screen with a capacity of 200 was added in the 1970s. The cinema closed on 6 January 2007.

The Regal Cinema faces north-east onto London Road where the main entrance lies within a heavily altered low single-storey projection set to the north corner (front right) of the building. It has a relatively light construction formed of a metal frame set upon a brick plinth with breezeblock walls covered with corrugated iron cladding. The building is believed to have been constructed on piles due to the presence of former salt mines underneath Northwich and consequent subsidence problems in the area. The main auditorium is a massive corrugated iron clad feature set to the rear of the building with louvered ventilation panels and low single-storey projections to each rear corner containing toilets. To each north-west and south-east side are raised covered exits accessed by metal stairs; above that to the south-east side are a series of small multi-paned windows lighting the stair to the projection room. The cinema's original Art Deco stepped frontage and slender flat canopy to the north corner entrance have been replaced with a plain modernised front incorporating a late twentieth heavy angled canopy placed across the whole of the upper half of the entrance. The entrance's original three sets of double doors have been replaced with modern doors and the original display cases have been removed. All three entrance doors are accessed by an altered concrete stair flight. To the left (south-east) of the main entrance is a much larger painted metal and corrugated iron-clad structure containing the cinema's second screen added in the 1970s.

Internally the cinema has been modernised and most of the original fixtures and fittings have been removed. The entrance foyer is plain and contains an altered manager's office to the south-west corner. The foyer's south-east wall incorporates a heavily degraded mid-twentieth century painting (painted straight on to wall plaster) recalling the flooding of Northwich (including The Regal) by the River Dane in 1946. The foyer's veneer wall panels have been removed, although a small section survives to an inner raised foyer area that is set at a right angle to the rear of the entrance foyer. The inner foyer has a shallow curved ceiling and provides access to toilets, a small altered bar, and the 1970s auditorium (known as Regal Two). Replaced double doors at each end also provide access into the main auditorium (known as Regal One). The main auditorium has a 'stadium design', meaning that it is a single large space without an overhanging balcony. The original square fluted proscenium survives to the south-west end, but the screen and nearly all of the seating have been removed. The aisles have been widened (late C20) and the original 'Lover's Row' (seats for 2 people) has also been removed. Historic photographs show that the side walls immediately flanking the proscenium were originally shaped with wide arched alcoves incorporating lighting bands and highly decorative mouldings. It has been suggested that these features are now hidden underneath later false panels, although there is no evidence to support their survival. The photographs also show that there were large lozenge-shaped lighting panels to the ceiling, which have since been removed. A plain closed-well stair to the north-east corner of the auditorium leads up to the former projection suite, which is top-lit by circular skylights and has lost all of its original equipment. A parquet floor has also been removed from the projection room. The 1970s auditorium is small and wholly modern in character. It has also lost its seating and contains no decorative features of special interest (1).

<1> English Heritage/DCMS, Various, Notification of decision not to include on the List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest, Ellis V 13/5/2010 (Written Communication). SCH5393.