Picture House

In the small Norfolk town of Harleston, near Diss, the Picture House opened in 1920.

According to the 1940 Kinematograph Year Book the cinema had 200 seats; this had reduced to 186 by the 1953 edition. But whatever the count, the Picture Palace was one of the smallest cinemas in England. (With a population of just 1,200, quoted in the KYBs, the town hardly required a larger cinema!)

There were double seats for courting couples. Mrs Kenyon initially accompanied the silent films, moving into the box office when ‘talkies’ arrived. The 1940 KYB lists Mrs O. E. Sanders as the proprietor; in the 1953 edition Mrs O. E. Bates is the proprietor - presumably the lady remarried.

Astonishingly, considering the relatively small size of the auditorium, CinemaScope was installed in 1954: “at great expense”, with this wide screen process being advertised over the entrance for the rest of its days.

The end duly arrived, not long afterwards, in 1962. In due course the building was used as a furniture shop by Messrs Keeley and Belderson.

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