Newgate Street, Empire Palace Theatre

Oliver and Leeson's concert hall addition to the Scotch Arms Hotel. The hotel had had a concert hall added to it since the 1870s. It reopened in 1890 as the first of the Moss 'Empires' in England. At ground level the essential medieval pattern of courts and building plots was maintained, with a lane running through the length of the site. The site was then redeveloped by Frank Matcham. The final building opened on 14 September 1903. The threatre worked in conjunction with the adjoining Empire Cinema (HER 12835). The theatre closed on 25 June 1963 and was demolished to make way for a hotel, shops and offices (Newgate Shopping Centre).