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The Palladium Cinema - Midsomer Norton


April 2015

Midsomer Norton's Palladium was one of the country's oldest cinemas, having first opened its doors as the Empire in 1913.

The building has been a landmark in the town since it was first opened as a cinema by Sidney Milles 96 years ago, when punters were treated to a full-sized stage, new scenery, electric lighting and heating in an age when people enjoyed live stage acts as well as films.

The next owner changed the name to the Palladium Electric in 1915, and stage acts included Tiny Tim, who at 43in tall was the world's smallest comedian.

The last owners, Mrs Steel and her husband Ken, were first associated with the building in 1944 when Mr Steel was a rewind boy on the projectors.

When the Steels closed the doors in 1993 the double back row seats became collectors' items, with former courting couples putting in bids for them. A final goodbye was said to the cinema with a showing of Cinema Paradiso, an Italian film about a small town's love affair with a cinema, which finally shut because of the economy, video and television.

Before it became a centre for entertainment the building was a brewery. In 1892 the building was owned by the Welton Old Brewery Company. The neighbouring Savoy Rooms were the brewery and the cinema buildings held the vats.

After its closure in 1993 the Palladium was bought by Moonjuice nightclub owner Martin Sawyer, who died in a car crash in 2004. In 2008 Bath and North East Somerset Council gave planning permission for the change of use of the Palladium to a club and shops.

In January 2015 J D Wetherspoons acquired the site. However, roosting bats have been discovered and has delayed building work.

Copyright © 2015 Stray Off The Path
  • Home
  • Asylums & Hospitals
    • Barrow Gurney Hospital
    • Brecon and Radnor Asylum - Talgarth
    • Cane Hill Asylum
    • Frenchay Hospital
    • Frenchay Hospital Mortuary
    • High Royds Asylum
    • Severalls Mental Hospital
    • Standish Hospital
    • St Cadoc's Hospital
    • St Clements Psychiatric Hospital - East London
    • Vagrant Cells - Melton Mowbray
  • High Stuff
    • Aldgate Tower Crane - London
    • Bayscape Tower Crane - Cardiff
    • Canons Marsh Crane - Bristol
    • Froomsgate House - Bristol
    • Newport Transporter Bridge
    • No. 3 Gasometer - Bath
    • No. 7 Gas Holder - Battersea
    • Simplyhealth Offices Crane - Bristol
    • Tees Transporter Bridge
    • The Forth Bridge
    • Warrington Transporter Bridge
  • Industrial
    • A Bond Tobacco Warehouse
    • Battersea Power Station
    • Celuan Wool Mill - Talybont
    • Coryton Refinery Power Station
    • CWM Coke Works
    • Ford Grain Silo - Avonmouth
    • Gloster Aircraft Company - Bentham Works
    • Granary No. 5 - Avonmouth
    • Healings Mill - Tewkesbury
    • Intier Automotive - Bristol
    • Lafarge Cement Works - Westbury
    • Leri Tweed Mill - Talybont
    • Longfords Mill - Stroud
    • Lostock Power Station
    • Mckechnie Brass - Aldridge
    • Morlands Tannery - Glastonbury
    • NGTE Pyestock
    • NT Frost Electroplating
    • Penallta Colliery
    • Pine End Works
    • Sharpness Grain Silo
    • Spillers Millennium Mills
    • Spillers Silo - Avonmouth
    • Spondon H Power Station
    • Tone Mills
    • Tower Colliery
    • Vencel Resil
    • Wansbrough Paper Mill
    • Welton Bibby and Baron - Midsomer Norton
  • Leisure
    • Birmingham Central Library
    • Bristol Ice Rink
    • Bristol North Baths
    • Odeon Cinema - Portsmouth
    • Oriental City
    • The Broadway Cinema - Bristol
    • The Palladium Cinema - Midsomer Norton
  • Military
    • Avro Shackleton MR3
    • Bletchley Park - G Block
    • Farleigh Down Tunnel
    • Hallen ROC Post
    • RAF Greenham Common (GAMA)
    • Royal Military Academy Woolwich
    • Wentworth D-Day Control Bunker
  • Underground
    • Bethel Quarry
    • Coulsdon Deep Shelter
    • Dreadnaught (Malago Stormwater Interceptor)
    • Finsbury Park Reservoir
    • Kingsway Telephone Exchange
    • Oslo Nuclear Fallout Shelters
  • Other
    • Abandoned Farmhouse - Bristol
    • Chernobyl Exclusion Zone
    • Coal Exchange - Cardiff
    • Crookham Court Manor/School
    • Farnham Police Station
    • Hampton House
    • Home Farm & Farmhouse
    • Ingelbourne Manor - Malmesbury
    • Lloyds Bank - Bristol
    • New Bridewell Police Station
    • North Leamington High School
    • Prinknash Abbey
    • Salston Manor Hotel
    • Silverlands Orphanage
    • St Joseph's Missionary College
    • St Michael on the Mount Without Church
    • The Abbey School Tewkesbury
    • The Hobbit House
  • Links