Palace Theatre

In the mining and agricultural village of Polesworth, near Tamworth, Warwickshire, the Electric Palace opened in 1912. It was a conversion of a bakehouse, situated alongside a canal, which had belonged to a steam mill. The projection room was built above the entrance and a sloping floor was installed with a centre aisle and a small orchestra pit. There was a small balcony with stepped rows of plush, red seats. A gas engine at the rear of the building provided the electricity supply.

A young soprano, Arthur Turner, who had worked in the bakehouse, sang ballads to accompany the early films. Variety acts were also presented.

By the early-1920’s a pianola had been installed but, by 1924, gramophone records were being played.

When the talkies arrived, a Filmaphone sound system was installed, later replaced by an AWH system. By then, having previously been renamed Electric Pictures, the cinema was renamed Palace Theatre.

The Palace Theatre closed in 1956. It is not known what the building was used for in the interim, but it was eventually demolished in August 1996. Housing was built on the site, by the canal bridge.

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