Palace Cinema, Gorseinon

Cinema

What is recorded here

Gorseinon's Palace began around 1900 as a skating rink, became a theatre and reopened with electric light as the New Palace in 1915. Films and live variety shared its stage before sound brought the name Lido; falling audiences led to bingo use and eventual demolition.

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Why it was built

The building first opened around 1900 as a covered skating rink, meeting a popular demand for indoor leisure. By 1910 it had become a theatre, using its large open hall for seated audiences and stage entertainment.

People and work

Manager Rupert Talbot ran the New Palace after its 1915 reopening. Performers used a stage about 30 feet wide with deep side spaces, and in the 1920s live variety turns appeared between the films shown to local audiences.

How it changed

Redecoration and electric lighting accompanied the New Palace name in 1915. Sound equipment later turned it into the Lido Cinema. A wider screen for large-format films followed in the 1950s, but declining attendance brought closure and conversion to bingo before demolition.

What survives

The building has been demolished. Written records preserve its changing uses, while cinema records describe the Lido's widened screen and its survival into the 1960s before it became a bingo hall.

Why it mattered

One building followed changing local tastes from skating through live theatre, silent and sound film, wide-screen pictures and bingo. That long chain makes the lost Palace a clear example of how town entertainment places had to adapt to keep audiences.