When Hyde Park Picture House first opened its doors to the public shortly before the first world war, women were at the mercy of groping men, who used the darkness as a cover to carry out attacks.
It was such a problem that the owner of the Leeds cinema installed gas lamps in the auditorium in the hope of deterring would-be assailants.
One hundred and nine years later, as it reopens to the public on 30 June after a long-awaited £4.8m refurbishment, Hyde Park is thought to be the only surviving gaslit cinema in the world.
The beloved independent cinema has been closed for three years while renovators built an extension to the building and restored the historic interior, which produced some interesting discoveries.
“We found hatpins, which at the time the picture house opened were sometimes used [to stop] harassment,” said Ollie Jenkins, the marketing manager.
He explained how, in the early 20th century, hatpins became synonymous with women’s safety and the suffragette movement, and that many stories had emerged of women using pins to fend off groping attacks from men – so many, in fact, that a law was passed in 1908 limiting the length of hatpins due to a patriarchal fear of them being used as defensive weapons.
The cinema team ran Treasure Trash Tuesdays on social media, highlighting the sometimes mundane objects that were found during the restoration, including old Woodbine cigarette cartons, prewar KitKat wrappers and Lyons ice-cream tubs from the 1930s.
“It allowed us to explore a whole aspect of cinema history that had been forgotten, which people found really interesting,” Jenkins said.
Of the £4.8m raised for the restoration, £2.6m has come from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and half a million pounds from Leeds city council. The remainder was sourced from smaller grants and from the cinema’s many fans. Some sponsored seats at £150 each, while others paid for the restoration of the iconic streetlamp outside.
When workers removed the poster box from what had been the exterior wall, they found fragments of original film posters going back as far as the 1930s, which are now on the inside of the building.
A 2-metre basement excavation was the most costly and complicated part of the refurbishment, providing a 50-seat second screen which will open later in July and will “massively transform our programme”, Jenkins said.
“It’s hard to programme a single-screen cinema and it not be dominated by one film. For example, we put on Parasite when it opened, which was a brilliant film, but it was all we could show for two weeks. The second screen gives us a lot more options.”
In the foyer, another surprise was the original terrazzo floor, hiding in good condition below carpet and vinyl. New soundproofing has been added – “to make us a better neighbour” – and nine gaslights have been kept intact.
Before each screening, staff will turn on the gas and light each of the lamps in turn with a long lighter – the same process as when they were first installed shortly after the cinema opened in 1914, albeit with a few extra safety precautions.
Even with the initial funding in place, the much needed restoration has been touch-and-go due to the arrival of the pandemic and its effect on the finances of the nation’s theatres. Hyde Park Picture House is part of Leeds Heritage Theatres trust, which also runs the historic Grand and City Varieties theatres in Leeds, both Victorian venues that remain exceptionally popular.
While Covid put a halt to live performances, revenue dropped substantially, and it was months before the government’s £1.57bn rescue package was announced.
Chris Blythe, the chief executive of Leeds Heritage Theatres, said: “When we started work on the Picture House project in 2015, we had no idea of the challenges ahead and how long our original timeline would have to be extended. Nor did we fully appreciate the support and love so many people across the city and nationally would show for our cinema.”
Councillor Jonathan Pryor, the council’s executive member for economy, culture and education, said: It’s wonderful to know this venue’s unique character has been protected and preserved and that it will continue to welcome audiences for many more generations to come.”
