Palace Of Varieties

The Coach and Horses pub had a music hall, known as the Palace of Varieties, in a separate but adjacent building before 1900. A building existed and may have been in use as early as 1860, but it went through a dark period, reopening in 1901 with variety bills of above average ambition for a small pub hall.

The pub and its still separate hall were both rebuilt to the designs of M T Saunders, reopening in summer 1908. By 1909 it was a picture palace, but still listed in Stage Yearbook under its old name a year later and shown as retaining both stage plays and music and dancing licences. It had closed by 1922. Later it suffered subdivision, the demolition of the dressing rooms and an alteration to the front.

The pub was demolished in 2002 but the altered entertainment building survived in trade use.

The pub and its music hall were designed in a kind of Old English style, in brick, render and half timber. The first design showed a room like a tiny theatre with balcony, raked stage, tall fly tower and grid. It was finally built to reduced scale with no balcony, a lower tower and a plain, basket-arched proscenium. The fly tower with glazed lantern and scene door and, internally, the pros arch are all still in evidence.

Although small, the Palace was surprisingly theatrical for its kind, date and location. Such halls are now rare.