Stanford Hall was a stately home built in 1774 and located in the village of Stanford on Soar in Nottinghamshire. Sir Julien Cahn purchased the hall in 1928 and commissioned cinema architect Cecil Aubrey Masey to construct a cinema/theatre inside one of the hall's rooms. The cinema theatre was designed in an Art Deco style with interior decorations by J.E. Redding and murals by artist Beatrice McDermott. The cinema also had a functioning theatre stage, reportedly to host magic shows, and was opened in January 1938. The cinema theatre, which was situated at the east of the main Hall building, was for both guests of Stanford Hall and the general public and operated until 2004.
In October 2011 the hall became the Defence and National Rehabilitation Centre, as part of the Stanford Hall Rehabilitation Estate, which rehabilitated military servicemen injured during their active service. The cinema theatre is Grade II listed, but in 2020 it remains closed to the general public.
The organ was a Wurlitzer 2 Manual 5 Ranks theatre organ which originally operated in 1920s Paris. The organ was fitted on a lift mechanism from the orchestra pit.
This is part of the Series: NWC01/01 Norman Walley: Series of slides; within the Collection: NWC01 Norman Walley Cinema Collection
© Historic England Archive
Photographer: Walley, Norman
Architect: Masey, Cecil Aubrey
Art Deco, Post Medieval Country House, 20th Century Cinema, 20th Century Theatre, 21st Century Rehabilitation Centre, Leisure And Recreation
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