Masonic Hall, Sheringham

The Masonic Hall, Sheringham^[1] was built in 1914 to house the Electric Picture Palace.^[2]

Masonic Hall (The Assembly Rooms)
General information
Type	Notable Building
Location	36 Cromer Road Sheringham NR26 8RR
Country	England
Coordinates	52°56′26.22″N 1°12′31.19″E
Opened	1914
Owner	Provincial Grand Lodge of Norfolk

Location

The hall is located on the landward side of the coast road, (Cromer Road), A 149.^[3]

History

The building was built by C.A. Sadler^[2] who was a local Sheringham businessman and was conceived as a cinema. This cinema was built in the vernacular style of cinemas of that period. The cinema had seating for 400 people.^[2] The cinema was called the Electric Picture Palace and could only show silent movies as it was never wired for sound.^[2] By the late 1920s when the sound films began to take over, Sadler increasingly found that he had no silent films he could show. To alleviate this situation Sadler arrange to share reels with the cinema at near by Cromer. In later years the cinema was renamed the Casino Cinema^[2] and later still the Regal.

Closure

By 1931 the lack of investment in a sound system resulted in the final closure of the cinema. From that time on the building was employed for several uses, including as a roller skating rink. In 1960^[4] the hall was used as a shoe factory by Edwards and Holmes Ltd, a Norwich-based shoe manufacturer.^[5]

New uses

In latter years following the closure of the shoe factory the hall became known as the Regal Assembly Rooms and was hired out for various occasions and functions. Eventually it was purchased by Provincial Grand Lodge of Norfolk for the local chapter of Freemasons and has been the Masonic Hall to this day.

References

1. Masonic Lodge of Sheringham retrieved February 2, 2013
2. Assembly Rooms retrieved February 2, 2013
3. County A to Z Atlas, Street & Road maps Norfolk, ISBN 978 1 84348 614 5
4. Reference to the Shoe Factory move retrieved February 2, 2013
5. Company Trade Mark retrieved February 2, 2013