The Hackney Empire
THE HACKNEY EMPIRE, 291, MARE STREET
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II*
- List Entry Number:
- 1226960
- Date first listed:
- 28-Jun-1972
- List Entry Name:
- The Hackney Empire
- Statutory Address:
- THE HACKNEY EMPIRE, 291, MARE STREET
Location
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- Reference:
- IOE01/09091/01
- Rights:
- © Peter Fuller. Source: Historic England Archive
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Official list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II*
- List Entry Number:
- 1226960
- Date first listed:
- 28-Jun-1972
- List Entry Name:
- The Hackney Empire
- Statutory Address 1:
- THE HACKNEY EMPIRE, 291, MARE STREET
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:
- THE HACKNEY EMPIRE, 291, MARE STREET
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- County:
- Greater London Authority
- District:
- Hackney (London Borough)
- Parish:
- Non Civil Parish
- National Grid Reference:
- TQ 34911 84748
Details
TQ 3484 25/379
25/379
MARE STREET E8
(west side)
No 291 (The Hackney
Empire Theatre)
28.6.72.
II*
Variety theatre. 1901, by Frank Matcham for Oswald Stoll's "Empire" circuit.
Red brick with buff terracota dressings. Victorian Baroque style. 2-storey,
3-bay front. Half-glazed entrance doors set in square-headed architraves
with engaged columns framing centre bay and mannerist piers to outer bays.
Central first-floor bay has a pair of semi-circular arched windows set in
recess framed by 4-centred mannerist arch with scrolled ends set on squat,
bulbous Ionic columns and with balustrade to front; pilasters rise from arch
to blank balustraded parapet; wreath and musical trophies to tympanum of
swan-necked open pediment surmounted by female figure. Slightly-projecting
outer bays each have semi-circular arched openings with decorative head over
a pair of circular and vertical windows; each outer bay is surmounted by
extraordinary twin domes set on octagonal drums; lower drums have tall slit
openings, and upper domes are formed of circular balustrades with scrolled
brackets to Flambeaux. Other elevations are treated more simply with classical
terracotta dressings. Interior: in flamboyant Rococo Baroque style. Mosaic
floor and decorative plaster frieze to porch. Foyer of 3 x 3 bays has marbled
wood piers and walls, wreathed cornice and large quatrefoil panel to coffered
ceiling; painted panels of cherubs and composers set in oval frames hung
with festoons; decorative tile dados to passages leading to stalls. Marbled
balustrades to 2 flights of stairs continued to upper foyer which has painted
panels set in elaborate plaster ceiling; 3-bay semi-circular arched arcades
to front (mirror flanked by doorways to stairs) to rear (framing stained-glass
windows set in wood frames) and to side bays which have Rococo ceilings and
Art Nouveau plaster friezes. Fine auditorium; painted panels set in Rococo
frames above proscenium arch which is flanked by winged cherubs holding urns
and by onion domes set in curved recesses. 3-tiered auditorium with elaborate
Rococo plasterwork to front of cantilevered balconies, which have decorative
plasterwork beneath. 3-bay arcades flank proscenium to second floor, with
fluted Ionic piers separating tall central arch flanked by painted panels
above lower flanking arched with turned balusters to arcaded balcony fronts;
first-floor boxes framed by console brackets and decorative plaster friezes,
with semi-circular arched exit doors flanking proscenium. Decorative plaster
frieze and coved cornice with shell niches to panelled plaster ceiling.
Noted as one of the most exuberant Matcham interiors in Britain.
(B M Walker (ed), Frank Matcham. Theatre Architect, 1980).
Listing NGR: TQ3491184748
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 424483
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Sources
Books and journals
Walker, B M, Frank Matcham Theatre Architect, (1980)
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 08-Jun-2026 at 10:52:40.
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.