Palace Picture Theatre

In Shaftesbury, Dorset, according to information obtained from the town’s Gold Hill Museum by Darron Keeling, the first cinema opened in 1913. It had a Neo-Classical style façade and was adjacent to a cycle shop.

According to ‘A Century of Cinema in Dorset’ this was a shop conversion, originally known as the Picture Palace.

This cinema was not listed in the 1914 edition of the Kinematograph Year Book (there was no entry at all for the town) but the (presumably re-named) Palace Picture Theatre was listed in the 1923 edition, the next one I have access to. By that time, the proprietors were Messrs. Terrilees, based at the Palace Cinema, Sherborne (see separate Cinema Treasures entry), the resident manager was C. Rose and there was one show nightly, with two on Saturdays.

The 1924 edition shows the proprietor as G. M. Terry, the resident manager as R. H. Davey and the same number of shows.

According to ‘A Century of Cinema in Dorset’, the Palace Picture Theatre closed in the “mid- 1920’s”. The next Kinematograph Year Book I have access to is from 1928, by which time the Palace Cinema was listed. This was a replacement for the older cinema (see separate Cinema Treasures entry).

When ‘A Century of Cinema in Dorset’ was published, in 1996, a Granada Television shop was operating on the site of the Palace Picture Theatre; by June 2023, according to Google Street View, this had been superceded by Bargains. The current building appears to be a modern replacement.

Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater.