85-89 Mill Road, Sturton Town Hall, The Empire, The Kinema, Cambridge

A well-loved local cinema, popularly known as 'The Fleapit'.

Read the complete building report (PDF)

In 1881 The Sturton Town Liberal Hall Company (Limited) was set up by a group of local Liberals to create club rooms that men of the area could use to keep themselves informed. They decided to build a hall that could be used for public meetings and also let out so that he income from the hall could then be used to help finance the club.

In 1882 Sturton Town Hall opened and hosted a variety of acts over the next three years until the renewal of its theatrical licence  was refused. The Salvation Army took a lease on the hall which provided regular income over the next 25 years. In 1910 Fred Hawkins refurbished the hall and opened The Empire, for the first time showing the newly popular cinematographs as well as the traditional music hall entertainment.

In 1916 there was another change of name and control when A J Pointer reopened the hall as The Kinema, now a dedicated cinema, although there were still variety and musical acts in between the reels for some years. The Kinema lasted as a cinema for 60 years, with George Webb taking over the lease in 1950, until it became a Bingo Club in 1966 with occasionally late night films.

Listen to Gwydir Street resident, John’s memory of the Kinema.

The Kinema finally closed at the end of 1985 and the site gradually became derelict until it was finally demolished in 1996 to make way for a student housing facility known as Scholars House.

This report was compiled by Simon Middleton based on research by Allan Brigham and Simon Middleton.

Further Information

• Read the complete building report (PDF)
• Listen to Catherine Green talk about the Kinema
• Dencora Homes sales details
• Cambridge Town Owl: Catherine Tillyard leads a large protest on Mill Road against Prime Minister Balfour’s Education Act 1902
• Cambridge Town Owl: The battle to close the Rex Ballroom and Cinema by Shire Hall in the 1970s

Census data etc.

1890

(CIP 26.4.1890 p.6) Fracas at the Cambridge Salvation Army Barracks: A SoldierDisabled: At the Cambridge Borough Police Court, on Tuesday morning, before the Mayor (in the chair). Dr. Cooper. C. Balls, and J. Hough, Esqs , Mark Felstead (17), a labourer, of 12, Catherine-street,  was charged on remand with having assaulted William Mead, a member of the Salvation Army, at Sturton Town Hall, on the 13th inst.

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11 July 1912. Proposal for a new Cinema Theatre on Mill Road at the corner of Covent Garden. Objections were raised that the building should be set further back from the road. Source: Mike Petty, Cambridge Mill Road Scrapbook 1897–1990.

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1913

Sturton Town Hall

The Empire Palace of Varieties, F Hawkins, proprietor

14 February 1913. Progress on the construction of the new Electric Theatre in Mill Road was reported. Source: Mike Petty, Cambridge Mill Road Scrapbook 1897–1990.

11 April 1913. Mr W. L. Raynes applied for a cinematograph and music licence for the new Picture Playhouse. The fireproof building would accommodate 167 people in the gallery and 602 in the body of the hall. Architect Mr Baines stated that the building complied with the borough byelaws. Source: Mike Petty, Cambridge Mill Road Scrapbook 1897–1990.

20 September 1930. An electricity failure occurred just as the first performances ended at both the Playhouse and Kinema cinemas. While waiting for power to be restored, the Kinema audience entertained themselves with community singing. Source: Mike Petty, Cambridge Mill Road Scrapbook 1897–1990.

17 January 1936. Cambridge entertainer Max Bennett, who had begun his career in cine-variety at the Playhouse, returned to perform with his broadcasting partner McNaughton after achieving success on the music hall circuit. Source: Mike Petty, Cambridge Mill Road Scrapbook 1897–1990.

5 October 1951. The manager of the Kinema, Mill Road, was convicted for his part in conspiracies involving rationed foodstuffs in contravention of Defence Regulations. The case involved large quantities of margarine, sugar and other rationed goods. Source: Mike Petty, Cambridge Mill Road Scrapbook 1897–1990.

16 May 1951. The Playhouse Cinema celebrated thirty-eight years of entertainment. Manager Eric Dallman marked the anniversary by presenting a short history of the cinema and reading telegrams of congratulation from film stars Richard Todd and Joan Dowling. Source: Mike Petty, Cambridge Mill Road Scrapbook 1897–1990.

22 May 1953. The Playhouse Cinema celebrated its fortieth anniversary. The article recalled its opening at Whitsun 1913 and noted the changes in cinema presentation since its earliest years. Source: Mike Petty, Cambridge Mill Road Scrapbook 1897–1990.

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1960s

The Kinema closed in 1979. In 1985 there were plans to reopen it as a cinema but these came to nothing.

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In 2025 MM sent this note:

I remember watching films there in the sixties. Dales brewery was behind the Kinema and there was a back exit through their yard into Gwydir street. The brewery had a tall water tower with a large gold cup on top celebrating Dales ales. Many regretted when the cup and tower were taken down, another local landmark gone. Katherine talks of the bombing, the bombs fell either side of mill road bridge and on the west side hit the doctors house, then one hit the chapel in Sturton street and several hit houses either side of St Matthews church. The chapel was being rebuilt in the early 1950’s, I used to walk past the site on my way to Brunswick School.

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9 January 1958 – The tenant of the Kinema Café told the bankruptcy court that he had taken over the business in 1956, paying £12 per week rent. After building up the trade, a fire in August 1957 forced the café to close for ten days, while increased rates added to its financial difficulties. (Mike Petty Archive: Cambridge Mill Road Scrapbook 1897–1990, 9 January 1958.)

7 April 1960 – The proprietor explained that he had tried to transform the Kinema Café into a more up-market establishment by removing the jukebox, introducing tablecloths and menu cards, and hoping to attract students. When this failed, the café relied largely on teenage customers, with around 85 per cent of sales coming from tobacco rather than refreshments. (Mike Petty Archive: Cambridge Mill Road Scrapbook 1897–1990, 7 April 1960.)

12 March 1966 – The Kinema Cinema, with seating for around 400 people and a staff of seven, closed. Owner George Webb indicated that it might continue as a cinema under new ownership, although its future remained uncertain. (Mike Petty Archive: Cambridge Mill Road Scrapbook 1897–1990, 12 March 1966.)

12 December 1985. The former Kinema bingo hall, then on the market, was proposed for restoration as a cinema specialising in classic and specialist films. Cambridge City Council believed it could become an important tourist attraction. Source: Mike Petty, Cambridge Mill Road Scrapbook 1897–1990.

27 December 1985. A history of the building recorded that it had opened in 1882 as the Theatre Royal, was also known as Sturton Town Hall and the Gladstone Liberal Club, became a Salvation Army hall after 1885, reopened in 1910 as the Empire, changed its name to the Kinema in 1916, later became a bingo hall, and was being considered for restoration as a cinema, café and entertainment complex. Source: Mike Petty, Cambridge Mill Road Scrapbook 1897–1990.

10 April 1986. Cambridge City Council abandoned plans for the former Kinema following its closure as a bingo hall. Proposals had included restoration as an Edwardian music hall, while alternative suggestions included housing, road widening or reopening as a specialist cinema by a private company. Source: Mike Petty, Cambridge Mill Road Scrapbook 1897–1990.

26 January 1987. Cambridge City Council abandoned plans to purchase the old Kinema after a structural survey revealed more than forty major defects in the century-old building, making restoration prohibitively expensive. Source: Mike Petty,Cambridge Mill Road Scrapbook 1897–1990.

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1990

Historic England have a few photos of the Kinema from 1990 after it had lain empty for a number of years.