The Maltings

Opened in 1990, The Maltings in the centre of Berwick-upon-Tweed was built in the ruins of an early 19th-century maltings which had been destroyed by fire in 1984. It is England's most northern theatre and cinema, standing on the border with Scotland. The original building was of rough stone construction, with internal cast iron pillars supporting the internal floors. The original stone structure was retained and a new internal steelwork frame was created which supports four floors containing a 325-seat main house, a flexible studio theatre, bar, cafe, workshop and office facilities. The roof is of traditional pantiles sitting over sarking boards and the exterior walls, where new, are timber clad over the steel framework. It is set in a hillside so that it is one storey at the front and four storeys at the rear. The main house is a proscenium arch theatre on two levels with raked stalls, circle and boxes. The gallery and slips are on steel beams with fronts of vertical timber. In early 2009 a complete refurbishment resulted in the installation of new house lighting and back-stage facilities, including a workshop and dressing rooms. The Henry Travers Studio is now a fully equipped black-box studio theatre, cinema, and meeting space that can also function as a large open space (around 140 square metres), having been converted from rehearsal space in 2011.