Royal Court Theatre
Sloane Square, Chelsea, London, SW1W 8AS
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1226628
- Date first listed:
- 28-Jun-1972
- List Entry Name:
- Royal Court Theatre
- Statutory Address:
- Sloane Square, Chelsea, London, SW1W 8AS
Location
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Images of England Project
- Date:
- 2006-06-07
- Reference:
- IOE01/15780/29
- Rights:
- © Mr Richard M. Brown. Source: Historic England Archive
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Official list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1226628
- Date first listed:
- 28-Jun-1972
- List Entry Name:
- Royal Court Theatre
- Statutory Address 1:
- Sloane Square, Chelsea, London, SW1W 8AS
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
Location
- Statutory Address:
- Sloane Square, Chelsea, London, SW1W 8AS
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- County:
- Greater London Authority
- District:
- Kensington and Chelsea (London Borough)
- Parish:
- Non Civil Parish
- National Grid Reference:
- TQ 28086 78679
Details
This list entry was subject to a Minor Enhancement on 01/06/2018
TQ 2878 NW
50/2
SLOANE SQUARE SW1
Royal Court Theatre
28.6.72
GV
II
Theatre. 1888, Walter Emden to Bertie Crewe. Interior reconstructed 1952, and altered again in 1956 and 1980. Red brick. Stone dressings. Ground floor painted. Four storeys. Three main bays. Central pediment. Applied Corinthian columns to upper floor. Outer bays with cambered pediments richly carved. Round headed windows to first and fourth floors. Balustraded parapet.
Historical note: the theatre was host to the first suffragette-themed play, ‘Votes for Women!’, which opened on 9 April 1907, and was attended by the Pankhursts. Inspired by the emerging militant campaign for women’s suffrage by the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU), the playwright, Elizabeth Robins, in the process of her research for the play became devoted to the cause. She gave a quarter of her royalties to the two main suffrage groups, though was not herself militant. The leading actor, Edith Wynne-Matthison, likewise came to support the campaign, and went on with Robins to found the Actresses' Franchise League in 1908.
This list entry was amended in 2018 as part of the centenary commemorations of the 1918 Representation of the People Act.
Listing NGR: TQ2808678679
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 423994
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Sources
Websites
Heskins, Theresa, ‘International Women’s Day 2018: the woman who wrote the first suffragette play – and almost shot George Bernard Shaw’, in inews, 08/03/2018,, accessed 11/05/2018 from https://inews.co.uk/culture/international-womens-day-2018-woman-wrote-first-suffragette-play-almost-shot-george-bernard-shaw/
Ellis, Smanatha, ‘Votes for Women!, Royal Court, April 1907’, The Guardian, 19/03/2003, accessed 11/05/2018 from https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2003/mar/19/theatre.artsfeatures1
John, Angela V, ‘Robins, Elizabeth (1862-1952), in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 03/01/2008, accessed 11/05/2018 from http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-37903?rskey=fs9H7g&result=2
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 12-Jun-2026 at 08:34:37.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.