The Palace, Friars Gate, Warrington Cheshire was built in 1907 and opened as The Palace Hippodrome theater on 23 September 1907. It was part of the MacNaughton Vaudeville circuit. It opened its doors to John Tiller’s company High Jinks. Movies became part of the show in the early years. The building was designed by George F. Ward and two boxed balconies were installed on either side of the proscenium with Baroque-style plasterwork. The upper balcony or gallery was accessed from a side door outside the building.
In early 1931 the theater became the Palace Cinema and opened with Ben Lyon in Hell’s Angels. The theater closed in 1957 when the owners went out of business. The venue was closed for three years before being absorbed into the Hutchinson circuit in 1960. The first performance was the musical Oklahoma. The cinema was short-lived, only staying open for four years, closing on November 7, 1964 with the black-and-white cinemascope film The Camp on Blood Island with The Revenge of Frankenstein as its second feature. During its film period, the gallery section was closed to the public.
The Palace screened movies that were several years old and in 1964 it was run by a Mr. Makin. As it had been a theater there were pillars that could affect the viewing. The secondary lighting, the lighting that was used in case of mains failure, was gas and would be turned on just before the show by the goalkeeper. In 1964 the main projectionist was Mr. Joe Slevin. The relief operator was Mr. Arnold Bates, who was a postman by day. He came in a couple of nights a week to relieve Joe. The projectors were Feidi and the RCA sound team. The light source was provided by two Peerless carbon archwires. Joe repaired televisions between reels, and a stove in the box was used to heat cakes for the projection workers. To get to the projection box you had to go through the outer side door that opened onto the gallery. There were a lot of steps to climb and the projection assistant had to go up and down twice a day to get a pot of tea. The box was small, but the doors at the rear opened onto a small balcony that allowed the operators to get some fresh air and a good view of Warrington.
Movies were usually shown on Sundays for a single day, a couple of shows on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, and another couple on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.
After the cinema closed it became a Surewin Bingo Club, also run by the Hutchinson Circuit. The bingo was opened by Peter Adamson who was a star of Coronation Street. The building later became an Apollo bingo club, again run by Hutchinson, the Brannigans nightclub, and a Showbar nightclub.
