A neighbourhood cinema of 1936 with a streamlined drum at its entrance and an auditorium that still keeps most of its original fittings. It has been a picture house, a bingo club and, since 2004, a church.
At a glance
The Capitol stands on the west side of Churchfield Lane, at the junction with Alfreton Road in Radford, north-west of Nottingham city centre. It was designed by the Nottingham architect Reginald W. G. Cooper and opened on 24 October 1936. Historic England listed it at Grade II in 1995, noting both the cylindrical entrance front and an interior that keeps its original entrance hall and most of the original auditorium. After decades as a cinema and then a bingo club, the building has been used since 2004 by the Mount Zion Millennium City Church, which is working to repair it.
Key facts
- Where: Churchfield Lane (west side), Radford, Nottingham NG7
- Opened: 24 October 1936; the listing dates the building to 1936–37
- Architect: Reginald W. G. Cooper of Nottingham
- Built for: the Levin brothers’ Invincible Cinemas circuit
- Seats: 1,122, in stalls and circle (Cinema Treasures)
- Protection: listed Grade II, National Heritage List for England entry 1246786, first listed 30 November 1995; placed on Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Register
- Current use: church (Mount Zion Millennium City Church), under repair
- Coordinates: 52.964404, -1.180728 · open in Google Maps
History
The Capitol was designed by Reginald W. G. Cooper, a local architect for whom Cinema Treasures records it as his third cinema, and built for the Levin brothers’ Invincible Cinemas circuit. It opened on 24 October 1936 with a double bill, and seated 1,122 people across the stalls and a circle.
According to Cinema Treasures the last films were shown on 8 June 1968. The building then became an independent bingo club, redecorated in 1988, and continued as the Capitol Bingo and Social Club until 2004. That year it was taken over as a place of worship by the Mount Zion Millennium City Church.
Historic England had listed the building at Grade II in 1995. Its condition put it on Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Register in Category A, at immediate risk of further rapid deterioration or loss of fabric. Restoration began in late 2019 with support from Historic England and the National Lottery Heritage Fund, and the architects Soul Architects carried out surveys and urgent repairs as the first step towards a larger repair project.
What you see
The building is a plain red-brick box, and all the design is concentrated on the corner that faces the road. There a cream-painted drum rises from the canopy to the roofline, wrapped in three projecting horizontal bands and pierced by a ribbon of small-paned curved windows. Against it stands a slim vertical fin, taller than the rest of the building, which now carries a cross. At ground level a curved red canopy shelters the glazed entrance doors.
Along the side wall the brick is relieved by long cream horizontal bands, in the streamlined manner of the period. The listing records that inside there survive a largely original entrance hall with a coved ceiling and concealed lighting, and an auditorium with most of its original features, including a square proscenium with moulded decoration and ribbed ventilation grilles.
Practical information
- The building is a church and is not a visitor attraction; the exterior can be seen from Churchfield Lane and Alfreton Road at any time.
- Ten minutes is enough to look at the entrance front from across the junction.
Getting there
The Capitol is a little over two kilometres north-west of the Old Market Square. City buses run out along Alfreton Road and stop near the junction with Churchfield Lane.
Nearby
- Hyson Green Methodist Free Church, in Hyson Green to the east.
- All Saints’ Church, Nottingham, towards the city centre.
- New Art Exchange, the contemporary art gallery in Hyson Green.
Sources
- Historic England, National Heritage List for England, entry 1246786, Former Cinema: Grade II, listed 30 November 1995; 1936–37 by Reginald Cooper; cylindrical central projection, curving canopy, original entrance hall and auditorium; also known as Capitol Cinema and Capitol Bingo and Social Club.
- Cinema Treasures, Capitol Cinema, Nottingham: opening on 24 October 1936, the Levin brothers’ Invincible Cinemas circuit, 1,122 seats, closure as a cinema on 8 June 1968, bingo until 2004, church since 2004, restoration from late 2019.
- Soul Architects, Mount Zion Apostolic Church, Nottingham: Heritage at Risk Category A, surveys and urgent repairs, National Lottery Heritage Fund application.
- Modernist Britain, The Capitol Cinema, Radford: architect, date, later uses and listing date.
- OpenStreetMap / Nominatim: position, returned as Mount Zion Millennium City Church, Churchfield Lane, Radford, NG7 5QS.
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