Newcastle
The Olympia, Northumberland Road
Last Updated:
31 Oct 2024
Newcastle
This is a
Theatre, Concert Hall, Cinema
54.976515, -1.612261
Founded in
Current status is
Demolished
Designer (if known):
J Shaw
Now on the Primark site
Northumberland Road, just off Northumberland Street, once featured a plethera of entertainment venues. Newcastle's Vegas strip if you like.
The Olympia was a multi-purpose concert hall built on the old Parade Ground for the Northumberland Yeomanry, for which its associated Riding School by John Dobson still stands. It opened in the December of 1893 to rave reviews thanks to its cavernous hall being "a capital one for sound", and would improve further once the building materials aged.
The inaugural night featured an assortment of voalists - a famous baritone named Charles Santley who worked in many productions across the Atlantic. Miss Emma Russell, a local lass, and Miss Clara Butt also performed. Apparently it all went down fantastically.
It became the premier exhibition centre in the city too, with a cycle show and a Missionary Exhibition held in the following years. Around 50,000 people visited this one in 1899, which appears to be effectively a big conference. The Thomas Edison Animated Photo Company ended up taking on the hall from the early 1900s. They showed the opening of Parliament, the Grand National, the wedding of the Queen of Holland and various entertainment pieces. Joseph Chamberlain also spoke here on tariff reform.
In 1907, the first iteration set ablaze. You can see a before and after on the 3rd and 4th shots. It was in the early hours of December, and the whole neighbourhood ended up illuminated. I'm not sure if the cause was realised, but the building was made of corrugated iron & felt, so went up like a tinder box. Ginnett's Circus was also impacted next door, which was the eventual site of the "new" Olympia.
It was quickly re-established and reopened within 2 years, which you can see on the 2nd shot. It seated 1500 people and was devoted almost entirely to being a picture hall. It was equally as basic though, with a corrugated iron and later asbestos roof, designed by J Shaw.
Union Cinemas took over in 1937 for a single year, then ABC ran it until the 60s. It closed in 1961 with the final film being the Milliionairess. Neighbouring BHS used it as warehouses until 1971.
Listing Description (if available)
Both Ordnance Survey maps shown depict the area around the Olympia from the 1890s to the 1910s. The first, a very detailed town plan, illustrates the first iteration of the Olympia next to Ginnett's Circus - a venue lasting until 1908 which supposedly held the worlds first beauty contest in 1905. Remnants of the older use on these lands can be seen next door, with the Riding School which is still extant. Northumberland Street still featured the Royal Victoria Asylum, where young disabled children were cared for. One of Newcastle's many lost chapels also stood on the M&S site.
The aforementioned chapel became a picture house by the 1910s, and as you can see Ginnett's Circus outgrew itself and was rebuilt as the Hippodrome (https://x.com/neheritagelib/status/1851629279106187704). The Central Methodist Church, a gorgeous primitive example, was built a couple of years prior to the survey over the road.
The Ordnance Survey of 1864 provides us a valuable glimpse into mid 19th century Newcastle. Our site is the bare ground at the Parade Ground which we mentioned earlier. This was very close by to the Northumberland Baths Cricket Ground - the city's first purpose built cricket venue which later hosted rugby, football, wrestling and more.
The Olympia site in September 2024
The first Olympia, c1905. The Urbanora was an exhibition of 100+ films depicting urban life. Source: Newcastle Libraries
From right to left: The old burnt out Olympia, the new Olympia and the White City c1909. Source: Newcastle Libraries