The Savoy Cinema is a Grade II Listed building located in Burnt Oak, a district of Edgware in northwest London. It opened on 29th June 1936 with Bobby Breen in “Rainbow on the River” and William Gargan in “Flying Hostess”. It was designed in an Art Deco style by architect George Coles. The entrance block has classical stone dressings surrounding a large window which is divided by stone pillars. The auditorium runs to the left of the entrance, parallel to Burnt Oak Broadway. Seating was provided in stalls and balcony levels and the auditorium was equipped with a Christie 2Manual/7Ranks theatre organ which had previously been installed in the Rosevale Cinema, Partick, Glasgow, Scotland. The Savoy Cinema also had a cafe attached and played occasional variety turns on the stage to accompany the film programmes.
In 1961 it was taken over by the Essoldo Cinemas chain and re-named Essoldo Cinema, but this was short lived as they closed it later that year on 14th October 1961. The building was converted into a bingo club, which was the first to operate in London. It continued as a Mecca Bingo Club and was a well maintained building retaining all the original decorative features. The Mecca Bingo Club closed in October 2014 and plans were proposed to convert it into flats. It remains vacant today but plans for conversion were approved in March 2021 so it looks like the clock is ticking now - https://www.mylondon.news/news/west-london-news/inside-abandoned-brent-cinema-set-20205426.
Photo taken on the day of opening in 1936
Mecca Bingo in February 1999
This has been on the radar for a few years but was always sealed up tight whenever I checked. CCTV all over it and recorded messages telling you the police were being called (or something to that effect), blaring from speakers, should you set off the motion sensors. It's also quite far out of London so not somewhere I find myself often. On this occasion though, to my surprise, I found it wide open. I went straight upstairs and into the auditorium where I seemed to have the place to myself, but after taking a handful of shots someone suddenly started banging on the wooden partition beneath the balcony and shouting. It went on for a couple of minutes or so and then stopped. I couldn't understand what they were saying or if it was directed at me specifically but I decided to get out of there as I was on my own. I waited a few days and went back with Elliot5200 for another look one morning. Again it seemed as if there was nobody else there until we headed for the lobby area where a scared looking man appeared from behind a glass door asking what we were doing. Turns out there is security after all so it's worth avoiding the downstairs. It's a bit of a mess down there anyway. The balcony of the auditorium however is pretty cool and presumably disused since it was a cinema so that's the highlight.
How it looks today
The lobby
Security were based in the room just past the desk on the right
There were a few rooms like this, all cleared out
Some old hand written signage
Behind the huge stain glass window
Unfortunately the projectors are long gone
The Art Deco auditorium
Unfortunately the ground floor is a mess and has been sealed off from the lobby with a wooden partition
There is just one light in the auditorium, the rest is in darkness
Shot taken in 1987 when there was a different colour scheme
The top level seating is still in great condition
All original Art Deco features such as the lamps are still in situ
Glad to have finally made it in here.
Thanks for looking.
In 1961 it was taken over by the Essoldo Cinemas chain and re-named Essoldo Cinema, but this was short lived as they closed it later that year on 14th October 1961. The building was converted into a bingo club, which was the first to operate in London. It continued as a Mecca Bingo Club and was a well maintained building retaining all the original decorative features. The Mecca Bingo Club closed in October 2014 and plans were proposed to convert it into flats. It remains vacant today but plans for conversion were approved in March 2021 so it looks like the clock is ticking now - https://www.mylondon.news/news/west-london-news/inside-abandoned-brent-cinema-set-20205426.
Photo taken on the day of opening in 1936
Mecca Bingo in February 1999
This has been on the radar for a few years but was always sealed up tight whenever I checked. CCTV all over it and recorded messages telling you the police were being called (or something to that effect), blaring from speakers, should you set off the motion sensors. It's also quite far out of London so not somewhere I find myself often. On this occasion though, to my surprise, I found it wide open. I went straight upstairs and into the auditorium where I seemed to have the place to myself, but after taking a handful of shots someone suddenly started banging on the wooden partition beneath the balcony and shouting. It went on for a couple of minutes or so and then stopped. I couldn't understand what they were saying or if it was directed at me specifically but I decided to get out of there as I was on my own. I waited a few days and went back with Elliot5200 for another look one morning. Again it seemed as if there was nobody else there until we headed for the lobby area where a scared looking man appeared from behind a glass door asking what we were doing. Turns out there is security after all so it's worth avoiding the downstairs. It's a bit of a mess down there anyway. The balcony of the auditorium however is pretty cool and presumably disused since it was a cinema so that's the highlight.
How it looks today
The lobby
Security were based in the room just past the desk on the right
There were a few rooms like this, all cleared out
Some old hand written signage
Behind the huge stain glass window
Unfortunately the projectors are long gone
The Art Deco auditorium
Unfortunately the ground floor is a mess and has been sealed off from the lobby with a wooden partition
There is just one light in the auditorium, the rest is in darkness
Shot taken in 1987 when there was a different colour scheme
The top level seating is still in great condition
All original Art Deco features such as the lamps are still in situ
Glad to have finally made it in here.
Thanks for looking.
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