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Summary

Art deco cinema, The Savoy, was opened in 1935. It stopped showing films in the 1970s. The building was last used in 2003. It was demolished in 2009.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses

• Old DCC SMR Ref: SS72NW/203

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• CINEMA (XX - 1935 AD to 1970 AD (Throughout))

Full description

South Molton & District Archive Local History Society, 2000, South Molton Heritage Trail, 37 (Pamphlet). SDV61800.

The cinema, probably South Molton's only art deco building, was opened in 1935 on the site of William Sanders Sawmills. It seated about 360 people, and the original Gaumont British projector was bought second hand in 1934. In the early 1970s it stopped showing films and operated as a bingo hall. In the 1980s it was used by an architectural antiques dealer, and although some of the interior fixtures and fittings were left in place, the seating was sold. The building is now used as a salesroom.

Ordnance Survey, 2011, MasterMap (Cartographic). SDV346129.

Govier, L., 2017, The Old Savoy Cinema, New Street, South Molton, Devon: Results of a historic building survey (Report - Survey). SDV360226.

The Old Savoy Cinema was constructed in 1935 in the typical Art Deco architecture of the period, which was principally displayed on its west, front façade onto New Road. It retained many of its original doors and windows, as well as some fixtures and fittings associated to its use as a cinema such as the pulleys and wires within the fly space above the stage. The first- floor projector room still housed two 35mm
Gaumont Kalee projectors and two arc rectifiers.

The Old Savoy Cinema was constructed in 1935, and may have been the only Art Deco style building in the town. It had one screen and the auditorium seated approximately 350. The cinema closed in the 1970s, and was subsequently used variously as a bingo hall, public entertainment venue, retail outlet and an auction house. The building was last used in 2003, and was demolished in 2009.

The Old Savoy was a standard example of 1930s cinema, erected towards the end of the peak period of cinema construction (English Heritage 2011, 7). It contained a single screen and auditorium, and its small size probably reflects the rural location; urban cinemas were typically larger, housing several screens. In a common design, public areas were housed in a block on the street frontage, with the auditorium and stage to the rear. Its external appearance was both functional and aesthetically pleasing. Typical of many Cinema buildings of this period the external treatment in contemporary Art Deco style was only applied to the front elevation and adjacent side elevations where the building was visible from the street frontage; the remainder was starkly functional.

Few alterations to the interior took place after its closure in 1970. However, the seating had been removed from the auditorium and the foyer area was re-decorated to accommodate the building's subsequent retail and commercial uses. Here only scant evidence of the original finishes survived, although the floor plan remained largely intact. The first floor had remained unused since closure, and evidence of the Art Deco finishes was more prominent. Fittings in the projector room including pairs of projectors and rectifiers also survived in situ.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments: none recorded

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV7286 - Results of a historic building survey:The Old Savoy Cinema, New Street, South Molton, Devon (Ref: ACD33/2/0)

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