THEATRE ROYAL

Market Street

Opened: 30th September 1911
Closed: Late 1950s
Capacity: 896

Charles Duvall, who also designed The Bataclan Theatre in Paris, had long been involved with theatre in Chorley and opened his first venue in 1872 for his company to perform plays such as The Green Hills of the Far West and Othello. This venue was sold in the 1880s and developed into the Grand Theatre on what is now the Flat Iron Market.

Duvall moved to a purpose-built venue on Market Street and with the cinema boom it soon moved over to film exhibition and promised the latest movies. It frequently changed ownership: in 1921 it was bought by local entrepreneur Archibald Hooley then in the 1930s the “Royal Super Cinema” was part of the ABC Cinema chain who gave it extensive upgrades to show ‘talkies’, starting with The Jazz Singer in 1930. 

At it’s peak, the Royal was known not just for the cinema but for the billiards hall, Sunday concerts, tour shows and a world-record piano playing attempt by “Musical Marie” The interior had a yellow and gold colour scheme, curtained boxes, double seats in the balcony, and big pillars that sometimes blocked the view. It ran continuous performances, which meant the lights were always down and their were lots of accidents.

Archibold’s son Selwyn bought it back later but it closed in the 1950s and was demolished in 1959 to make way for Chorley’s first supermarket, Lennox’s. When that closed in the 80s it was the site of the town’s first McDonalds restaurant, which itself was demolished in 2015 and there now stands a row of shops (including Pizza Hut) on the site