Shaftesbury Theatre
SHAFTESBURY THEATRE, HIGH HOLBORN
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1378647
- Date first listed:
- 01-Mar-1974
- List Entry Name:
- Shaftesbury Theatre
- Statutory Address:
- SHAFTESBURY THEATRE, HIGH HOLBORN
Location
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Images of England Project
- Date:
- 2004-08-08
- Reference:
- IOE01/12856/09
- Rights:
- © Mr David March. Source: Historic England Archive
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Official list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1378647
- Date first listed:
- 01-Mar-1974
- List Entry Name:
- Shaftesbury Theatre
- Statutory Address 1:
- SHAFTESBURY THEATRE, HIGH HOLBORN
- Statutory Address 2:
- SHAFTESBURY THEATRE, SHAFTESBURY AVENUE
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:
- SHAFTESBURY THEATRE, HIGH HOLBORN
- Statutory Address:
- SHAFTESBURY THEATRE, SHAFTESBURY AVENUE
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- County:
- Greater London Authority
- District:
- Camden (London Borough)
- Parish:
- Non Civil Parish
- National Grid Reference:
- TQ 30137 81354
Details
CAMDEN
TQ3081SW HIGH HOLBORN
798-1/105/1429 Shaftesbury Theatre
01/03/74
GV II
See under: Shaftesbury Theatre SHAFTESBURY AVENUE.
CAMDEN
TQ3081SW SHAFTESBURY AVENUE
798-1/105/1429 (East side)
01/03/74 Shaftesbury Theatre
GV II
Includes: Shaftesbury Theatre HIGH HOLBORN.
Theatre. 1911. By Bertie Crewe. Terracotta, stone and brick in
elaborate Renaissance style. Rectangular plan on a corner
site, the main entrance being at the angle of Shaftesbury
Avenue and High Holborn.
EXTERIOR: 3 storeys, 4 bays to each return, the entrance bay
being curved. Ground floor rusticated with continuous plain
canopy over. 1st floor rusticated, much of the fenestration
covered by hoarding. 2nd floor with Diocletian windows & oculi
in alternate bays, the entrance having rectangular windows
with enriched architraves, all having large consoles under a
cornice and elaborate parapet. Above the entrance front, a
cupola.
INTERIOR: foyer and booking hall with delicate plaster
decoration. Auditorium of considerable richness with 2
cantilevered balconies, the fronts varied in form and
decoration. Rectangular ceiling with enriched cove and cornice
and circular flat-domed centre. Segmental proscenium arch with
figure reliefs in spandrels over. Bow-fronted boxes paired in
two tiers and framed by giant Ionic columns rising from heavy
console brackets and carrying an entablature with figures, the
whole composition crowned by a semicircular arch and a heavily
moulded eaves cornice. In the arch tympanum a sculptural group
is set over each upper box. Balustraded balcony terraces at
upper box level run laterally along the walls towards the
boxes and balustraded front to filled orchestra pit.
HISTORICAL NOTE: the theatre was designed as a melodrama
house.
(Curtains!!! or, A New Life for Old Theatres: London: -1982:
157-58).
Listing NGR: TQ3013781354
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 477981
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Sources
Books and journals
Mackintosh, I, Sell, M, Curtains or New Life for Old Theatres, (1982), 157,158
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 24-Jun-2026 at 19:31:03.
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.