For a generation of Edinburgh film-goers, Poole's Synod Hall was the number one place to catch the latest Hammer Horror flick.
The Synod Hall became a full-time cinema in 1928, and by the 50s had become a popular haunt for school children playing truant looking to be spooked.
The building on Castle Terrace was built in 1875, at an ‘enormous expense’. It was intended that the West End Theatre would be part of new plans for a city centre entertainment complex that included a Winter Garden - though it was only two years later that the property was purchased by the United Presbyterian Church and became their new Synod Hall.
