Description

HALIFAX

679/0/10283 WARD'S END
05-OCT-00 Halifax
ABC Cinema

GV II

Also Known As: Regal Cinema, WARD'S END, Halifax

Cinema with integral row of shops to the north facing Alexandra Street. Opened in September 1938 as the Regal for the original ABC company (Associated British Cinemas). Architect: William Riddell Glen, FRIAS, LRIBA (1884-1950).

Thin courses of squared stone with ashlar panels and dressings; roof not visible. Plan a rounded triangle. Moderne style. Two and three storeys 1:3:6 windows to Commercial Street.

EXTERIOR: Entrance has vertical tiles on curved sides framing three pairs of renewed glass doors; fascia projects in two stages. Above, ashlar panel has projecting end fins acting as pilasters with bands in place of capitals; nearly full width projection contains triple lights set in architrave; long fluted aprons to these windows which have horizontal metal glazing bars; small narrow lights flank this group. Roof parapet has central projecting block. To the left of entrance block, a shop has plate glass window below deep fascia in green vitrolite; above, two windows of two lights under deep ashlar frieze and flat coped roof parapet. Behind this the curved wall of the cinema rises to full height and has a single window at third storey level. To right of entrance the ground floor is of rusticated ashlar with deeply recessed openings for two emergency exits and hatches. Above, windows are in two-storey panels, with fluted decoration joining lower and upper windows and with a deep ashlar lintel band; from this a second curve with two lights breaks forward to join the right return. Windows one and two lights with metal horizontal glazing bars. Rendered patching to first floor by the continuation of the broad band of green vitrolite; metal framed two and three light windows to first floor. Right return to Ward's End has canted wall with large blank centre space; either side are window panels with two and four lights. Ground floor level projects as curving wall with symmetrical arrangement of deeply recessed exit door at centre flanked by two sets of single-light paired windows. At extreme right another ashlar panel with five windows with one, two and three lights.

INTERIOR: Foyer has stepped roof panels, and original stair at right. Fan-shaped auditorium has two small cinemas inserted, leaving balcony and original full-height proscenium as third cinema. This has banded flanking walls with fleur de lys finials to shallow pilasters; proscenium arch, with panelled architrave surrounded by an ornate grille, is flanked by curving fluted recesses containing statues (replacements of the originals from the ABC Harrogate, now demolished) on fountain-shaped plinths. Ceiling in subdued Jacobean style with strap decoration and pendants. Some original fine wood doors with rich glass viewing panels survive. Other surviving decoration includes fluted curved coping to balcony foyer.

ANALYSIS: Despite subdivision, the auditorium remains a good example of an elaborate William Glen interior where e combined the Moderne with historical styles. Virtually all the cinemas built by Associated British Cinemas in the 1930s have now been drastically altered or demolished, making this one, with much surviving original decoration, a rarity. The unusually bold fortress-like exterior adds to the interest of the building.

SOURCES
Allen Eyles, ABC The First Name in Entertainment, Cinema Theatre
Association, London 1993, p.p.43,45 & 141;
Richard Gray, Cinemas in Britain, Lund Humphries, London 1996, p.138

Listing NGR: SE0929224968

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26664821

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

• 
  Norfolk 1: Norwich and North-East: Norwich and North-east v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Suffolk: East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Pevsner's Architectural Glossary (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of Historic Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas
• 
  A Buying and Owning a Listed Building: A Brief Guide
• 
  Worcestershire Revised Edition (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)