Monument record 10861 - Royalty Theatre, City Road

The Royalty Theatre on City Road was first established in 1878 as the Princes of Wales Theatre as a wooden structure. It operated for just three years on a short lease from the City before it was replaced by a larger brick-built theatre with a seating capacity of 2500 in 1882 called the Royalty Theatre. From 1896 until the 1930s the theatre showed bioscopes – or early cinematographs – after which it was mainly used as a live venue for shows and music acts. The theatre finally closed as a venue in 1976 although it remained in use as a nightclub until 2001. The building itself was of brown brick in a variety of bonds with a grey slate roof. The original interior was entirely stripped in 1956 and underwent several phases of remodelling after. (1)

Archaeological investigations on the site following the demolition of the theatre identified several construction walls relating to the early theatre built in 1878 along with features of the 1882 rebuilding. (2, 4)

The earlier phase of construction indicates a sandstone and timber theatre built in around 1874 consisting of the excavated remains of a large sandstone wall [160] 10.3m in length and curving to the south east at the eastern end as well as two additional sandstone walls [167; 173]. The structural remains of the later 1882 rebuilt theatre was more extensive, recording evidence several walls and floor surfaces, the area of the stage and several concrete pads. (2)

<1> Oxford Archaeology North, 2002, Desk-Based Assessment and Building Investigation; Royalty Theatre, Chester., R2710a (Client Report). SCH4820.

<2> L - P Archaeology, 2009, Archaeological Excavation Report for Land at 20 City Road, Chester, R2897 (Client Report). SCH5184.

<3> Howe, S, 2012-Present, A Virtual Stroll Around the Walls of Chester, http://www.chesterwalls.info/gallery/royalty.html (Web Site). SCH6990.

<4> L - P Archaeology, 2007, Archaeological evaluation report for land off 20 City Road, Chester (Client Report). SCH4915.