New Borough Hall, Guildford

Guildford’s New Borough Hall could be said to be the precursor to the Civic Hall, but its own history is just as interesting, if not a little complex.

In the mid-1800’s Guildford’s Thornton’s Theatre, on Market Street, closed leaving the town with no purpose-built theatre. The Guildford Mechanics’ Institute on North Street was subsequently enlarged in 1861, including an 80ft long hall, that extended west down Leapale Road. This became known as The County & Borough Halls, which retained the ‘old hall’.

In October 1911, pianist Arthur Newstead – on his 6th tour of Great Britain – held a recital at the hall ably assisted by Russian violinist Michael Zacharewitsch and Miss Gladys Van Der Beeck. In 1912 the large (County) hall was rebuilt internally and extended further to become the Theatre Royal. At the same time the old Borough Hall’s orientation was flipped with a new stage and an enlarged gallery at the opposite ends to the originals.

In 1913 Australian opera singer, Madame ‘Nellie’ Melba appeared at the venue courtesy of Clark’s Ltd who reportedly paid 500 guineas (~£31,000 today) for her performance. The next year Clark’s Ltd hired the venue again and presented concert singer Madam Clara Butt. She went on to appear in Guildford yearly from 1914 to 1918 at concerts arranged by the music shop, often assisted by her husband Kennerley Rumford.

On 25 February 1920, the Co-operative Concert Company performed the musical portion of a ‘concert-meeting’ regarding education in Guildford at th hall. Within a few years the ‘New’ was dropped and on 7 May 1922, there was a free concert in aid of Feed the Children Fund held at Borough Hall, Guildford. The Salvation Army Silver Band and Songster Brigade performed that day, and the following week there was a concert directed by Mr. Leslie Fly.

The Theatre Royal closed in 1933, having failed to meet the local authority’s structural and safety requirements. That is when The Guildford Cooperative Society bought the entire property and used a portion of the building as a shop and store. The Borough Hall was occasionally used by professional theatre companies in ’33 and ’42 and was home to the Guildford Repertory Company from ’46 to ’63, as the Guildford Theatre. The theatre auditorium itself remained disused, with the only noticeable change being the removal of the circle and gallery in the ’50s.

The Borough Hall/Guildford Theatre was gutted by a fire in 1963 which also destroyed the roof of the old Theatre Royal. After the fire, the Coop store was extended into the Theatre Royal site. The destruction of the old Theatre Royal and Borough Hall would accelerate plans for the building of the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre.

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