Warwick Picturedrome, 101 Windsor Street, Liverpool 8. Both photos from the LRO.
HISTORY
The building was in existence by the early 1860s when it was occupied by James Smith, described as a car proprietor. As transport was horse-drawn, the premises would mainly be used as stables.
From the 1870s to about 1895, it was similarly occupied by William Bennison, and then from c1895 to c1902 by John Nixon, also a car proprietor.
William R. Williams, an undertaker, conducted his business at the premises from about 1905 to 1910.
On 10 March 1911, plans of the proposed conversion of the premises into a cinema with 340 seats, were received by the authorities. J. L. Langford & Slater, of North John Street, Liverpool, were the architects. (They had just finished the conversion of a carriage making factory in London Road into another cinema, the Electra Palace Theatre). The Builders were G. E. Marshall & Co, and the work was recorded as starting on 10 May 1911, and finishing on 24 October 1911.
The following two letters are rare surviving examples of official correspondence, and give us some idea of the strict conditions under which cinemas (and other places of public amusement) had to be built, and then operated.
"Proposed Picture Hall.
101 Windsor Street.
The above premises are situate at the corner of Windsor Street, and are now unoccupied and had been previously used as an Undertaker's establishment and stables.
The auditorium will consist of the Ground floor only and is about 47' long by an average width of 41'.
There are 3 exits, each 4' 6" wide, one into a vestibule leading directly to Windsor Street, one into Stananought Street, and one at the junction of these streets.
The seats are shewn in 2 blocks, with gangways at the back, sides, down the centre and in front. The front gangway is 9' 6" wide: all the others of a minimum width of 3'. Assuming two prices are charged for the seats, there is accommodation in the front seats for 120, allowing 2' 2" x 1' 6" per person, and in the rear seats accommodation for 190, allowing 2' 4" x 1' 8" per person - a total of 310.
Lavatory accommodation is provided for Gentlemen on the Ground Floor and for Ladies on the First Floor.
The operator's box is situated on a specially constructed floor at the Stananought Street end of the Hall, and is shewn to be enclosed by brick walls; and an escape ladder is also provided for the operator in case of accident.
The plans do not indicate the mode of lighting or position of any fire extinguishing appliances.
Remarks.
Exits seem ample
Position of Operator's Box satisfactory.
Query:- Film Store & Winding Room.
If electric light is used, gas to be provided as a standby.
Proper fire appliances will be required.
Cinematograph Box to be ventilated to outer air.
Jacob's ladder with proper balcony to be constructed, so that there will be no difficulty in keeping cinematograph enclosure door open when required for purpose of ingress or egress.
Extend platform to side of Cinematograph Box so as to form a separate compartment for storage and winding films.
No Waiting Room is provided and consequently the performances must either be a continuous one or one house per night.
Signed, Twerton
Surveyor to the Justices
Municipal Offices
25 April 1911."
"THE TOXTETH PARK PICTUREDROME
101 WINDSOR STREET
The plans of these premises were approved by the Justices on the 25th April last.
The building is not quite finished but I expect it will be so in about 5 weeks.
So far the plans have been carried out satisfactorily.
I have re-arranged the seating with the result that the number of seats have been reduced from 310 to 286.
I see no objection to a Licence being granted providing it be withheld until everything is finished to my satisfaction.
Signed, Twerton
Surveyor to the Justices
Transfer Sessions, 1st August 1911."
The Cinematograph licence was granted on 1 August 1911, but the opening of the cinema could not take place until the licence was issued, and that date is not known. On 10 October 1911 an application was made for 3 lamps for the exterior of the building. They were to project 3 feet from the wall, at a height of 15 feet. As the building work was officially "signed off" on 24 October - and it was usual practice to open before the signing-off day - it is safe to assume that the Warwick Picturedome opened in October 1911.
A 62 feet long iron and glass verandah was put up on the building during November/December 1912. The fact that this was after the opening of the cinema was usual practice, as the priority was to get premises open to the public before the final details, like verandahs, were undertaken. The verandah's architect was Archibald Leitch, of Dale Street. He was also the first Licensee of the Warwick, and probably the owner.
He also designed lots of football stadia (stadiums), including Liverpool
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archibald_Leitch
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archibald_Leitch
A company (Toxteth Picturedrome Ltd.) had been formed to operate the cinema.
By 8 January 1914, the cinema was managed by George H. Grundy. On that date the licence was transferred from Mr Leitch to Mr Grundy.
The building had passed from Toxteth Picturedrome Ltd., into the hands of Robert Wilkinson, of Birkenhead, by 12 May 1922, at which date he submitted plans for the insertion of a balcony, to seat 180. The architects Gray & Evans, of Liverpool had drawn up the plans, and the work was carried out by F. Dobson & Co. between August 1922 and January 1923. The rear of the new balcony incorporated the site of the original operating room, so a new one had to be built directly under the roof. New toilets, and a new paybox were also part of the work. The seating capacity was increased to 535, but it was still one of Liverpool's smallest cinemas. John George Wilkinson, another member of the family, was the manager of the cinema from 1922 until 1926, when he became manager of the family's brand-new Regent cinema in Old Swan.
The Warwick was one of the last cinemas in Liverpool to be converted to Talkies. The equipment was installed in June/July 1931, and it was the only Liverpool cinema to use the Mihaly system. However, the much more popular Western Electric sound system was in use by 1943. During the 1930s the cinema was managed by yet another member of the Wilkinson family, Donald P. Wilkinson.
Robert Wilkinson was also behind the building of the Regent Cinema (1926) in Old Swan, and the Granada (1932) in Dovecot. They were taken over by ABC in about 1935, but the Warwick continued in the control of the Wilkinson family. It had passed to Mark Wilkinson by 1933.
In 1935 the seating capacity was 600. By 1939 it was down to 510. 437 in 1943.
By 1956 the Warwick was controlled by Westman Enterprises Ltd., and it closed as a cinema in November 1958.
It became the Warwick night-club in 1959 or 1960. In 1961 it was renamed the Mandolin night-club, and in 1962 it became the Talk of the Town club, which it still was in November 1963. By February 1964 it had become the Starline Restaurant Club - "Wine, Dine & Dance", and it can be traced in the Liverpool Echo up to 27 June 1968, when a "Stag Night", licensed until 2 a.m., was advertised, with Gina, Betty, Lou and Cindy being the featured Artistes (ie Strippers).
This is the last mention of the building being open to the public. It had been the subject of a Compulsory Purchase Order in 1967, which was the reason the photograph reproduced here was taken. (As far as is known, it seems to be the only photograph of the exterior of the building.) It was soon demolished - well before 1975 - as the OS map issued that year shows that the building had already gone, and the site was then part of a sports centre.
It has been said that the Warwick cinema became a youth club, and that it was demolished in 1982. For the record, both statements are wrong.
Text copyright to Philip G Mayer from original research.
Update.
The interior photo was an official one to record the collapse of 60 square feet of the (so-called) ceiling in October 1955 when several members of the audience were injured. (See top left corner).
It isn't known when the roofline was lowered.
Possibly as a result of the 1955 collapse.
Warwick Picturedrome, 101 Windsor Street, Liverpool 8. Both photos from the LRO.
HISTORY
The building was in existence by the early 1860s when it was occupied by James Smith, described as a car proprietor. As transport was horse-drawn, the premises would mainly be used as stables.
From the 1870s to about 1895, it was similarly occupied by William Bennison, and then from c1895 to c1902 by John Nixon, also a car proprietor.
William R. Williams, an undertaker, conducted his business at the premises from about 1905 to 1910.
On 10 March 1911, plans of the proposed conversion of the premises into a cinema with 340 seats, were received by the authorities. J. L. Langford & Slater, of North John Street, Liverpool, were the architects. (They had just finished the conversion of a carriage making factory in London Road into another cinema, the Electra Palace Theatre). The Builders were G. E. Marshall & Co, and the work was recorded as starting on 10 May 1911, and finishing on 24 October 1911.
The following two letters are rare surviving examples of official correspondence, and give us some idea of the strict conditions under which cinemas (and other places of public amusement) had to be built, and then operated.
"Proposed Picture Hall.
101 Windsor Street.
The above premises are situate at the corner of Windsor Street, and are now unoccupied and had been previously used as an Undertaker's establishment and stables.
The auditorium will consist of the Ground floor only and is about 47' long by an average width of 41'.
There are 3 exits, each 4' 6" wide, one into a vestibule leading directly to Windsor Street, one into Stananought Street, and one at the junction of these streets.
The seats are shewn in 2 blocks, with gangways at the back, sides, down the centre and in front. The front gangway is 9' 6" wide: all the others of a minimum width of 3'. Assuming two prices are charged for the seats, there is accommodation in the front seats for 120, allowing 2' 2" x 1' 6" per person, and in the rear seats accommodation for 190, allowing 2' 4" x 1' 8" per person - a total of 310.
Lavatory accommodation is provided for Gentlemen on the Ground Floor and for Ladies on the First Floor.
The operator's box is situated on a specially constructed floor at the Stananought Street end of the Hall, and is shewn to be enclosed by brick walls; and an escape ladder is also provided for the operator in case of accident.
The plans do not indicate the mode of lighting or position of any fire extinguishing appliances.
Remarks.
Exits seem ample
Position of Operator's Box satisfactory.
Query:- Film Store & Winding Room.
If electric light is used, gas to be provided as a standby.
Proper fire appliances will be required.
Cinematograph Box to be ventilated to outer air.
Jacob's ladder with proper balcony to be constructed, so that there will be no difficulty in keeping cinematograph enclosure door open when required for purpose of ingress or egress.
Extend platform to side of Cinematograph Box so as to form a separate compartment for storage and winding films.
No Waiting Room is provided and consequently the performances must either be a continuous one or one house per night.
Signed, Twerton
Surveyor to the Justices
Municipal Offices
25 April 1911."
"THE TOXTETH PARK PICTUREDROME
101 WINDSOR STREET
The plans of these premises were approved by the Justices on the 25th April last.
The building is not quite finished but I expect it will be so in about 5 weeks.
So far the plans have been carried out satisfactorily.
I have re-arranged the seating with the result that the number of seats have been reduced from 310 to 286.
I see no objection to a Licence being granted providing it be withheld until everything is finished to my satisfaction.
Signed, Twerton
Surveyor to the Justices
Transfer Sessions, 1st August 1911."
The Cinematograph licence was granted on 1 August 1911, but the opening of the cinema could not take place until the licence was issued, and that date is not known. On 10 October 1911 an application was made for 3 lamps for the exterior of the building. They were to project 3 feet from the wall, at a height of 15 feet. As the building work was officially "signed off" on 24 October - and it was usual practice to open before the signing-off day - it is safe to assume that the Warwick Picturedome opened in October 1911.
A 62 feet long iron and glass verandah was put up on the building during November/December 1912. The fact that this was after the opening of the cinema was usual practice, as the priority was to get premises open to the public before the final details, like verandahs, were undertaken. The verandah's architect was Archibald Leitch, of Dale Street. He was also the first Licensee of the Warwick, and probably the owner.
He also designed lots of football stadia (stadiums), including Liverpool
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archibald_Leitch
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archibald_Leitch
A company (Toxteth Picturedrome Ltd.) had been formed to operate the cinema.
By 8 January 1914, the cinema was managed by George H. Grundy. On that date the licence was transferred from Mr Leitch to Mr Grundy.
The building had passed from Toxteth Picturedrome Ltd., into the hands of Robert Wilkinson, of Birkenhead, by 12 May 1922, at which date he submitted plans for the insertion of a balcony, to seat 180. The architects Gray & Evans, of Liverpool had drawn up the plans, and the work was carried out by F. Dobson & Co. between August 1922 and January 1923. The rear of the new balcony incorporated the site of the original operating room, so a new one had to be built directly under the roof. New toilets, and a new paybox were also part of the work. The seating capacity was increased to 535, but it was still one of Liverpool's smallest cinemas. John George Wilkinson, another member of the family, was the manager of the cinema from 1922 until 1926, when he became manager of the family's brand-new Regent cinema in Old Swan.
The Warwick was one of the last cinemas in Liverpool to be converted to Talkies. The equipment was installed in June/July 1931, and it was the only Liverpool cinema to use the Mihaly system. However, the much more popular Western Electric sound system was in use by 1943. During the 1930s the cinema was managed by yet another member of the Wilkinson family, Donald P. Wilkinson.
Robert Wilkinson was also behind the building of the Regent Cinema (1926) in Old Swan, and the Granada (1932) in Dovecot. They were taken over by ABC in about 1935, but the Warwick continued in the control of the Wilkinson family. It had passed to Mark Wilkinson by 1933.
In 1935 the seating capacity was 600. By 1939 it was down to 510. 437 in 1943.
By 1956 the Warwick was controlled by Westman Enterprises Ltd., and it closed as a cinema in November 1958.
It became the Warwick night-club in 1959 or 1960. In 1961 it was renamed the Mandolin night-club, and in 1962 it became the Talk of the Town club, which it still was in November 1963. By February 1964 it had become the Starline Restaurant Club - "Wine, Dine & Dance", and it can be traced in the Liverpool Echo up to 27 June 1968, when a "Stag Night", licensed until 2 a.m., was advertised, with Gina, Betty, Lou and Cindy being the featured Artistes (ie Strippers).
This is the last mention of the building being open to the public. It had been the subject of a Compulsory Purchase Order in 1967, which was the reason the photograph reproduced here was taken. (As far as is known, it seems to be the only photograph of the exterior of the building.) It was soon demolished - well before 1975 - as the OS map issued that year shows that the building had already gone, and the site was then part of a sports centre.
It has been said that the Warwick cinema became a youth club, and that it was demolished in 1982. For the record, both statements are wrong.
Text copyright to Philip G Mayer from original research.
Update.
The interior photo was an official one to record the collapse of 60 square feet of the (so-called) ceiling in October 1955 when several members of the audience were injured. (See top left corner).
It isn't known when the roofline was lowered.
Possibly as a result of the 1955 collapse.