The National Picture Theatre, Beverley Road, Kingston Upon Hull

Hull Theatres Index

The National Picture Theatre, Hull in a photograph originally published in the Hull Daily Mail - Courtesy Alan Canvess

Above - The National Picture Theatre, Hull in a photograph originally published in the Hull Daily Mail - Courtesy Alan Canvess

The remains of the National Picture Theatre, Hull in 2011 - Courtesy Alan Canvess The National Picture Theatre was situated on Beverley Road, Kingston Upon Hull, and was first opened on the 23rd of December 1914. The Theatre's auditorium, which had a proscenium opening of 24 feet, could seat just over 1,000 people in its stalls and balcony levels. Originally there was also a resident orchestra to accompany the films shown in the Theatre but by 1930 it had been wired for sound.

Right - The remains of the National Picture Theatre, Hull in 2011 - Courtesy Alan Canvess.

Sadly the Theatre was bombed and mostly destroyed during the Second World War. The air raid took place on the night of March 17th/ 18th 1941. Ironically the film showing at the time of the bombing was Charlie Chaplin's 'The Great Dictator' but thankfully all 150 people escaped and there were no casualties.

The interior of the building was completely destroyed by the bombing but remarkably the facade survived and still survives to this day, including fragments of the Foyer and vestibule behind it. There has been a long running campaign to have the remains of the Cinema, and the Swan Inn next door, saved as part of a National Civilian WW2 Home Front tribute to all those who endured the Blitz in 1939 to 1945 in Britain.

The cinema is the last remaining civilian bomb ruin still in existence. Of the remaining Blitz ruins,14 in total, 12 are churches or ecclesiastical and the other is an old naval dockyard ropery. The cinema building is currently Grade II listed, but applications have been made in the past to turn the site into a restaurant and block of flats.

The remains of the National Picture Theatre, Hull in September 2018 - Courtesy Philip Paine.

Above - The remains of the National Picture Theatre, Hull in September 2018 - Courtesy Philip Paine.

Some photographs of the former National Picture Theatre taken in February 2011 - Courtesy KR

Photograph of the former National Picture Theatre taken in February 2011 - Courtesy KR

Above - Photographs of the former National Picture Theatre taken in February 2011 - Courtesy KR

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