Description

LEEDS

SE2835SW BRUDENELL ROAD, Hyde Park
714-1/69/874 (South side)
Hyde Park Cinema

GV II

Cinema. c1914, possibly adapting premises of c1908. Red brick,
Marmo details. 3-storey canted corner entrance bay, 5-bay
auditorium.
Entrance: semicircular open lobby with Ionic columns in antis
support moulded cornice and entablature with raised lettering:
'PICTURE . HYDE PARK . HOUSE', modillion cornice above; paired
windows to 1st floor in imitation white stone surround with
segmental arches and keystones; flanking small-pane sashes.
Pilasters between windows rise through cornice with 3-light
window flanked by balustraded parapet at 2nd-floor level;
elaborate moulded Dutch-style gable with ball finials.
To right: auditorium facade with pilasters and 3 keyed
recessed panels flanked by oval blind panels, panelled door
with flat hood supported by scrolled cast-iron ties far right,
dentilled cornice, square ventilator with dome to centre of
ridge.
Rear: a plain wall to auditorium, double doors with stepped
moulded panels left.
Left return: 2 bays, the narrow left bay has panelled door
with hood as front, the wide right bay has a segmental keyed
arch to 3-light staircase window, the wooden frame having slim
moulded columns, central scrolled pediment, stained-glass
panels; keyed round window (to projection room) and moulded
gable above, tall banded corner stack left.
INTERIOR: mosaic floor to entrance lobby, paired glazed doors
flank the original ticket booth, stair hall with original
paired doors to auditorium right, divided panelled staircase
with square balusters and lit by 3-light window with painted
glass surviving left; scrolled wrought-iron Art Nouveau light
pendant.
Auditorium walls retain moulded panels, pilasters, cornice and
ribbed arched ceiling; the panels which are visible are plain
but at screen end the original decorative plasterwork has
survived with gilded cherubs, swags and festoons enclosing the
panels, the original screen painted on the W end wall. Central
ventilation shaft. Circle balcony front has plaster festoons,
brackets and shields; 1st-floor entrance to circle through
original paired doors, the top panels glazed in red with
engraved stars.
Other features of interest include fire hose and fittings at

foot of stairs, gas lighting to auditorium, circle seating of
the 1930s from the Gaumont in Leeds, automatic shutter system
to close projection apertures worked from foyer, former wide
fireplace in entrance hall altered to ticket office, ornate
door to basement area (gents).
HISTORICAL NOTE: reputed to have been built as an hotel by
Henry Childs, the site was occupied by the Brudenell Road
Social and Recreation Club by 1908 (Kelly's Directory). The
building is reputed to have been used as a picture house by
November 1914, and the name 'Hyde Park Picture House' is
listed in Kelly's Directory for 1916, the manager Joseph A
Hardy living next door. The lower part of the auditorium front
wall was originally protected by a glazed canopy.
(Thompson J, cinema owner (pers. comm.); Kelly's Directories
of Leeds: 1908-1916).

Listing NGR: SE2845035169

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Hyde Park Picture House at Wikipedia
• Hyde Park Picture House official website
• Wikidata Q5953717

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

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  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)
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  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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