Building record 5277 - Electric Picture Theatre, Congleton

<1> Cinema Treasures, 2000-2020, Cinema Treasures, (06/01/2020) (Web Site). SCH8820.

'...The Electric Theatre was an early cinema, operating by 1910. It was closed around 1914 when the town’s Premier Cinema opened. The building was in use as a garage for many years…'

<2> Alcock J, 2009, History and Guide: Congleton, p.90 (Book). SCH8821.

Created in 1911 out of an abandoned fustian mill. Could accommodate 680 on benches.

<3> Cheshire East Council, 2010, Cheshire East LDF Local List of Historic Buildings (Report). SCH5404.

<4> Various, Various, Oral communication to the HER, Edwards R, 07/01/2020 (Oral Communication). SCH2330.

Above the double doored stucco detailed doorway (almost Art Deco in style), the cinema's name is preserved in black lettering on a yellow background. Above, and in similar colours, is an advertisement for Jacksons Hercules Cycles.

<5> Avalon Heritage Ltd, 2020, The Former Electric Cinema, Cross Street, Congleton, Cheshire. Archaeological Assessment to Inform a Planning Application for Re-development (Client Report). SCH9145.

The building representing the former Electric Cinema occupies the bulk of the frontage and is rendered with stone ashlar pilasters and a dentilled cornice over the entrance with a decorated tympanum displaying the building’s former function as a cinema and an advert for Jackson’s Hercules Cycles. On the Ordnance Survey 1873-5 map, the building which later housed the Electric Cinema appears to have taken on its current form and orientation. There is a large square building projecting from the back of the Electric Cinema building where today there is a slabbed yard. the large square building previously adjoining the rear of the Electric Cinema building, apparently having been demolished by 1954.