About The Project

Inspired by the walking tours I lead about the history of cinema-going in London, Memory Palaces will tell the stories associated with about 100 cinemas, past and present, across the capital.

Walks Stories

Exploring The Memory Palaces

From the early days of ‘animated pictures’ in the 1890s right up to the present-day era of multiplexes and community cinemas, London’s cinema history has spanned the whole breadth of the city. When cinema-going was at its peak in the 1940s every neighbourhood had numerous cinemas within walking distance of each other.

At the heart of Memory Palaces is information about cinemas, past and present, in every corner of the capital. Photographs showing what they look like today accompany each entry.

Instead of attempting a complete history of London’s cinemas, I’ve chosen to tell a single story that happened at each one. My hope is that as you read the stories and click through the connective links a whole picture of London’s picture palaces emerges – one that’s been more than a century in the making.

That’s not all folks…!

My love of cinemas and their rich history can’t be contained by just stories about 100 of them and walks in London. You’ll also find occasional articles that expand on themes explored in the Memory Palace stories or cover other aspects relating to cinemas in London, the rest of the UK and my visits abroad.

Cinemas Stories Articles

Nigel Smith

In addition to leading walks about cinemas, I co-run Tufnell Park Film Club and am part of the team that produces Screenshot for BBC Radio 4.

More About Me

The London Boroughs

One of the aims of Memory Palaces is to demonstrate the staggering number of cinemas there have been in every corner of London – no neighbourhood has been without one at some point in the last 100 years!

Over time you’ll be able to find information about at least one cinema in every single London borough.

Cinemas

Barking and DagenhamEast – 1 Cinema
BarnetNorth – 2 Cinemas
BexleySouth East – 0 Cinemas
BrentNorth – 2 Cinemas
BromleySouth – 2 Cinemas
CamdenNorth – 11 Cinemas
City of LondonCentral – 0 Cinemas
CroydonSouth – 2 Cinemas
EalingWest – 6 Cinemas
EnfieldNorth – 0 Cinemas
GreenwichSouth – 3 Cinemas
HackneyEast – 4 Cinemas
Hammersmith and FulhamWest – 2 Cinemas
HaringeyNorth – 1 Cinema
HarrowWest – 0 Cinemas
HaveringEast – 0 Cinemas
HillingdonNorth West – 1 Cinema
HounslowWest – 0 Cinemas
IslingtonNorth – 9 Cinemas
Kensington and ChelseaCentral – 2 Cinemas
Kingston upon ThamesSouth West – 0 Cinemas
LambethSouth – 4 Cinemas
LewishamSouth – 2 Cinemas
MertonSouth – 0 Cinemas
NewhamEast – 2 Cinemas
RedbridgeNorth East – 0 Cinemas
Richmond upon ThamesSouth – 0 Cinemas
SouthwarkCentral – 3 Cinemas
SuttonSouth – 0 Cinemas
Tower HamletsEast – 5 Cinemas
Waltham ForestNorth East – 3 Cinemas
WandsworthSouth West – 3 Cinemas
WestminsterCentral – 24 Cinemas

Further Information

You’ll find references to various sources throughout the Memory Palaces site. Below are websites and books I’ve found incredibly helpful as part of my broad research into cinemas and cinemagoing in London.

Websites

Bill Douglas Cinema MuseumWonderful museum and archive at University of Exeter
Cinema Memory & the Digital ArchiveResearch project with archive at Lancaster University
The Cinema MuseumA treasure trove in South London with fantastic events programme
Cinema Theatre AssociationEssential cinema heritage and preservation organisation
Cinema TreasuresEnormous user-generated database of cinemas around the world
History of the Everyman Hamsptead Margaret O'Brien's wonderful project about the historic North London cinema
London's Silent CinemasUCL project exploring pre-1930s cinemas
Electric Cinema ClubExhaustive site on the Notting Hill cinema, including archive images and old programmes

Books

ABC The First Name in Entertainment(Allen Eyles, CTA/BFI, 1993)
Cathedrals of the Movies: A History of British Cinemas and their Audiences(David Atwell, Architectural Press, 1980)
Cinema Memories: A People’s History of Cinema-Going in 1960s Britain(Melvyn Stokes, Matthew Jones & Emma Pett, Bloomsbury, 2022)
Cinemas and Theatres of Tower Hamlets(Gavin McGrath, self published, 2010)
Cinemas in Britain: One Hundred Years of Cinema Architecture(Richard Gray, Lund Humphries/CTA, 1996)
The Cinemas of Camden(Mark Aston, Camden, 1997)
Cinemas of Haringey(Jeremy Buck, Hornsey Historical Society, 2010)
Enter the Dream-House Memories of Cinemas in South London from the Twenties to the Sixties(ed. Margaret O’Brien & Allen Eyles, BFI, 1993)
From Silent Screen to Multi-Screen: A History of Cinema Exhibition in Britain since 1896(Stuart Hanson, Manchester University Press, 2007)
Islington’s Cinemas & Film Studios(Chris Draper, Islington Libraries)
Gaumont British Cinemas(Allen Eyles, CTA/BFI, 1996)
The Granada Theatres(Allen Eyles, CTA/BFI, 1998)
Hollywood's Embassies: How Movie Theaters Projected American Power Around the World(Ross Melnick, Columbia University Press, 2022)
London’s West End Cinemas(Allen Ayles w/ Keith Skone, English Heritage, 2014)
Odeon Cinemas 1: Oscar Deutsch Entertains Our Nation(Allen Eyles, CTA, 2002)
Odeon Cinemas 2: From J Arthur Rank to the Multiplex(Allen Eyles, CTA/BFI, 2005)
The Picture Palace and Other Buildings for the Movies(Dennis Sharp, Hugh Evelyn, 1969)

Acknowledgements

Huge thanks to Chloe Rosser whose photography illustrates each of the Memory Palaces so vividly and Mat Martin who designed and developed the site.
Jeremy Buck and Clive Polden at the Cinema Theatre Association - both enthusiastic supporters of this project and always happy to answer an email.
Nick Freand Jones, Amanda Mason and the staff of ActOne Cinema in Acton who inspired my second cinema history walking tour and are a continual support.
To everyone who's been on one of my walking tours and encouraged me to pursue this ongoing fascination with London's cinemas.
Finally, thank you to Sam Nightingale, whose Islington’s Lost Cinemas project first sparked my interest in London’s old cinemas back in 2012.