Abbeydale Picture House (later Abbeydale Cinema) is a former cinema

Movie theater

A movie theater, cinema, movie house, picture theater, film theater is a venue, usually a building, for viewing motion pictures ....

 in the City of Sheffield

Sheffield

Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. When opened by the Lord Mayor of Sheffield on 20 December 1920 the picture house was the largest and most luxurious cinema in Sheffield, it was often called Picture Palace because it was decorated in cream and gold with green velvet seats made of dark mahogany. It also had many intricate decorations and carvings as well as a mosaic floor in the foyer and a glass canopy with a marble pillar on the outside of the building. The first film shown was The Call of the Road (IMDB entry). The cinema had seating for 1,560 people and also included a ballroom and a billiard hall (the latter is still in operation). Cine-variety played a major role at the Abbeydale until 1930 when the "talkies" talking films came in and the stage was then used purley to house the sound equipment. In the mid-1950s the cinema was taken over by the Star Cinema Group which meant the entire building being redecorated and a new cinema technology being fitted including a new permanent WIDE screen. The cinema closed on 5 July 1975 and was used as an office furniture showroom until 1991. In 1989 the building was given a Grade II listing by English Heritage

English Heritage

English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...

. In 1991 the sprung floor in the ballroom was ripped out and Abbey Snooker and Bar Abbey were put in, they are still there to this day. In 2003 the Friends of Abbeydale Picture House—boasting patrons including Michael Palin

Michael Palin

Michael Edward Palin, CBE FRGS is an English comedian, actor, writer and television presenter best known for being one of the members of the comedy group Monty Python and for his travel documentaries....

, Peter Stringfellow

Peter Stringfellow

Peter James Stringfellow is an English nightclub owner.-Early life:Stringfellow was born on 17 October 1940 to Elsie and James William Stringfellow , a steelworker...

 and the John Lewis Partnership

John Lewis Partnership

The John Lewis Partnership is an employee-owned UK partnership which operates John Lewis department stores, Waitrose supermarkets and a number of other services...

—was formed to "restore and manage the 'Picture Palace' as a community centre for the performing arts and visual media." They officially became the owners of the building on 21 December 2005. The Abbeydale Picture House has regular performances and fundraisers to try and raise money towards the restoration. As it is part of English Heritage the building is open for guided tours on the second weekend in September.