The Gielgud Theatre
THE GIELGUD THEATRE, SHAFTESBURY AVENUE W1
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1236174
- Date first listed:
- 28-Jun-1972
- List Entry Name:
- The Gielgud Theatre
- Statutory Address:
- THE GIELGUD THEATRE, SHAFTESBURY AVENUE W1
Location
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Images of England Project
- Date:
- 2004-06-27
- Reference:
- IOE01/12669/22
- Rights:
- © Mr Nicholas Bridges. Source: Historic England Archive
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Official list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1236174
- Date first listed:
- 28-Jun-1972
- List Entry Name:
- The Gielgud Theatre
- Statutory Address 1:
- THE GIELGUD THEATRE, SHAFTESBURY AVENUE W1
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 GIELGUD THEATRE, SHAFTESBURY AVENUE W1
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- County:
- Greater London Authority
- District:
- City of Westminster (London Borough)
- Parish:
- Non Civil Parish
- National Grid Reference:
- TQ 29641 80874
Details
This list entry was subject to a Minor Amendment on 26/08/2014
TQ 2980 NE
71/28
CITY OF WESTMINSTER,
SHAFTESBURY AVENUE W1,
The Gielgud Theatre
(Formerly listed as The Globe Theatre)
28-6-72
GV II
Theatre. 1902, by W. G. R. Sprague. Portland stone, slate roof. Free Baroque style with some French features. On corner site and designed as part of a symmetrical composition with the Queen's Theatre, originally with similar plans and elevations. 4 storeys. 2 windows wide to Shaftesbury Avenue, 3 windows wide bowed corner and 3 window return to Rupert Street continued as plain brick and stone facade. Foyer doorways on corner under canopy on ornamental brackets. Square headed windows with enriched architraves and cornices to 1st and 2nd floors and oeil de boeuf windows to 3rd floor; crowning cornice and balustrade. The bowed corner is slightly recessed with 1st floor windows arcaded and with a giant Ionic order uniting the 2nd and 3rd floors; above the main cornice, the bow is fully developed as a short, buttressed, circular tower with stone dome. Good interior decorations, including spacious circular foyer with Ionic columns; the auditorium, in a 'Louis XIV' style, is of circular form cut by the tangent of the proscenium wall and has 2 cantilevered balconies; the curved side walls at both levels dressed with pairs of engaged Ionic columns carrying entablatures (a theme repeated in the Grand Saloon behind the Dress Circle). Flanking the stage pairs of giant, pedestalled Corinthian pilasters frame 2 tiers of boxes and carry entablature on and across the architrave of the proscenium proper. Circular moulded ceiling with central crystal electrolier. Original stage machinery includes the working bridge (of original form), grave trap, 2 single traps, elements of stage grid with a bridge winch and slider mechanisms, etc. Sprague was a friend and collaborator of Frank Matcham.
Survey of London; vol XXXI The Theatres of London; Mander and Mitchenson
Listing NGR: TQ2964180874
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 427106
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Sources
Books and journals
Mander, , Mitchenson, , The Theatres of London, (1975)
Survey of London in The Parish of Westminster Part 2 North of Piccadilly: Volumes 31 and 32 , Vol. 31, (1963)
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 30-Jun-2026 at 23:25:18.
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.