The history of Athenæum

The Trust running the Warminster Athenæum is 25 years old this month. But the theatre itself dates back to Victorian times. It’s a grade II listed building, built in the Jacobean style in 1857/8 to designs by William Jervis Stent.

It is held in trust on behalf of the residents of Warminster by the charitable trust and is Wiltshire’s oldest working theatre. It is one of the oldest non-cinema venues in the country to still be showing films – the first having been presented in 1897.

 

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It began life in October 1849, when a group of local professional men met to discuss literature and the Arts over a chemist shop in Market Place. Within two years a more permanent group was established as an Athenæum Institution for Warminster; “to afford intellectual enjoyment as a means of cultivating literary taste and to improve the education of school pupils”.

In 1857, after several years operating out of a premises in the Market Place and the Town Hall, a new home was sought and a tavern, The London Inn, was pulled down to create the beautiful grade II listed building we still know and love.

The new Athenæum, originally with a smaller glass-roofed lecture hall for 350 patrons, flourished as a centre of learning and entertainment, with lectures from eminent speakers such as author Charles Kingsley, novelty acts, penny readings, choral music and recitals.

The auditorium was rebuilt in 1879 in memory of one of the founders, Dr Charles Bleek. The larger hall and stage with its balcony remains, for the most part, unchanged to the current day. It was on this same stage that Oscar Wilde lectured in 1884, General Booth in 1906 and Emmeline Pankhurst in 1911.

As the years rolled by, lectures gave way to more music hall entertainments, plays and shows. The library and literary institution side of the Athenæum became redundant. By 1895, in the hands of the Urban District Council, the use of the building changed considerably. The Athenæum Education classes expanded and a large new extension was built on The Close as the town’s first permanent secondary school.

In the hall, the biggest change came following a public vote in 1912 to convert it into the Palace Cinema. Through two World Wars and the Great Depression, The Palace Cinema entertained the people of Warminster, showing over 10,000 films and a host of stage entertainment. It finally closed in 1964.

After a few years of restoration, the building reopened in 1969 as an Arts Centre and the cultural heart of Warminster. A rich and diverse programme of plays, concerts, film and dance gave the centre stability for over 25 years. As it developed, the demands of running a professional venue overstretched the finances and in 1997 the centre went into liquidation.

The building was then maintained by the resident dance studio until 2000 when a newly reformed Athenæum Trust brought the theatre back to full life and began a comprehensive programme of entertainment and repairs.

The long-neglected areas of the building were renovated and upgraded. Major works were undertaken to replace the heating, facilities, decoration, exterior and restore the roof surfaces at a cost of many hundreds of thousands of pounds.

In Spring 2011, the trustees developed a large void between the main building and the hall to improve accessibility. The project, along with a community kitchen and accessible toilet, was the most extensive alteration to the building since the 1930s.

Since 2000, the resident groups have staged outstanding and inspirational musicals, plays, films and shows, allowing the trustees to further invest in the building. Most recently, major improvements have been made to the entrance, toilet facilities, stage rigging, lighting and sound systems.

In memory of one of its founding members, The Sheila Toomey Award was created in 2003 to support those aspiring to a career in the Arts. In 2020, the neighbouring Close Centre was acquired, reuniting the two parts of the building -separated since the 1940s – allowing the centre to grow, and in 2024, Warminster Foodbank relocated here from Dewey House.

Through the decades and centuries, in its various forms, The Athenæum has never stood still, ever-evolving, improving, but always remaining a cherished building at the heart of the community.