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The History
The State Cinema, located in Grays in Essex was designed by architect Frederick Chancellor and was originally to be named 'Roxy' but was opened under the name The State.
The building was classed as a Super cinema, it included a 2,200 seat auditorium, a bar and a restaurant. It was fully equipped with air conditioning and a beautiful Compton Organ that lifted up out of the stage.
The State cost £10,000 (£3-4 million pound in today's money) to build and opened on the 5th of September 1938. The first film to be shown was 'The Hurricane'.
The Compton organ inside could be raised out of the orchestra pit and could sit flush with the stage. This was one of a rough 500 that existed at the time of the state opening, now there are only a handful of these organs that are still in their original condition and in their original locations. Most cinemas during the 1920's and 30's had pipe organs installed, their main use was to provide music during silent film, at the start and end of films and also during the intervals.
During the 1980's the cinema was put in jeopardy, mostly due to the rise in multi-screen cinemas that were being built and the huge increase in video film rental and the cinema was threatened with closure. In 1985 after running it for 10 years ‘Mecca Leisure' decided to close down the cinema.
However just a year after the cinema closed, it was sold to Robins Cinemas and reopened as "The Grays State Theatre" Opening night offer tickets at a cost of just £1 to see the film 'Back to the future'. On the 5th of September 1988 the cinema held a showing of 'The Hurricane' to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the cinema.
The cinema ran up until 1989 when it was finally closed due to costs and lack of local support. The doors closed for the 2nd time on the 30th November 1989.
In the mid 80's The State was granted listed status to protect the art deco interior.
In January 1991 the cinema opened again but this time under the name of 'Charleston’s Nightspot'. This new lease of life showed the cinema as a trendy wine bar / night club. Some renovations were made but in a whole the state was kept unchanged. Charleston’s also put on evening concerts in the auditorium, some of the names that performed there include, Suzi Quattro & David Essex. After 7 years it closed again in 1998.
In February 2000, the listed status on the building was upgraded to Grade II listed.
Various plans have been made for The State including an application by the 'Peniel Pentecostal Church' for the building to be used as a church but it was dismissed.
Planning permission was approved for supermarket chain 'Morrison’s' to build a store on the states old car park; this was at a cost of £10 million pounds. As part of the deal Morrison’s, promised Thurrock Council that they would upkeep the now vacant State Cinema. In 2001 that there was water damage inside the main auditorium but the leak was sealed to prevent any further water ingress.
In 2003 another structural survey was carried out by the supermarket chain, this told a different story to the one a few years before. Although the main integrity of the building was secure there was a big issue with water ingress. This was later found out to be due to poor water drainage on the roof and also poor roof fixings. This ingress slowly ate away at the walls, starting a decaying process which couldn't be altered just by 'patching the roof up again'.
The building was sold in October 2006 to TSP Properties LTD for £550,000 (A Steal considering the Compton Organ is probably worth near that amount). TSP stated the cinema would never re-open under its built purpose but they would explore options to renovate and re-open The State as a leisure hub. TSP owned The Cinema up until 2015 when it was reported pub chain 'Weatherspoon’s' had bought the building with views of turning it into a Pub.
In 2011 the cinema was broken into and vandals took metal from inside the state. They also took some of the pipes from the organ. These pipes were located under the stage and have no significant value on their own without the organ. It's estimated it would cost around £10,000 for the pipes to be replaced.
The Explore
This one had been on the cards for a while. We had checked it and checked it and checked it.
Out with the usual Essex crowd we decided to have a butchers and noticed a potential way in. With a bit of a squeeze one of us was in and a fire door soon opened and away we went.
We at first avoided the dalek alarms until we noticed they were actually going off with the weakest of noise as the batteries were dying lol
We made our ways around the cinema from the bar, to the projection room and eventually the auditorium.
This place is great inside, a proper old school cinema that reminded me of being a kid again.
It’s a shame that the water had gotten to it and damaged it so badly. But if Weatherspoon’s stick to their plans for the place it should all be good again. Essex meet anyone?
Whilst mucking around on the stage we noticed the override mechanism and handle for the organ and wound it up out of the stage for a better look at it. It truly is an awesome sight and wasted sat there alone in the dark.
We have tried to have a revisit of this place but our original point of entrance is no longer viable. Gutting really as it would be nice to see again.
Enjoy the pics
The projection room, still with its lowly Peerless projectors intact
The bar area with its smaller Compton organ
The auditorium
The other Compton organ
The State Cinema, located in Grays in Essex was designed by architect Frederick Chancellor and was originally to be named 'Roxy' but was opened under the name The State.
The building was classed as a Super cinema, it included a 2,200 seat auditorium, a bar and a restaurant. It was fully equipped with air conditioning and a beautiful Compton Organ that lifted up out of the stage.
The State cost £10,000 (£3-4 million pound in today's money) to build and opened on the 5th of September 1938. The first film to be shown was 'The Hurricane'.
The Compton organ inside could be raised out of the orchestra pit and could sit flush with the stage. This was one of a rough 500 that existed at the time of the state opening, now there are only a handful of these organs that are still in their original condition and in their original locations. Most cinemas during the 1920's and 30's had pipe organs installed, their main use was to provide music during silent film, at the start and end of films and also during the intervals.
During the 1980's the cinema was put in jeopardy, mostly due to the rise in multi-screen cinemas that were being built and the huge increase in video film rental and the cinema was threatened with closure. In 1985 after running it for 10 years ‘Mecca Leisure' decided to close down the cinema.
However just a year after the cinema closed, it was sold to Robins Cinemas and reopened as "The Grays State Theatre" Opening night offer tickets at a cost of just £1 to see the film 'Back to the future'. On the 5th of September 1988 the cinema held a showing of 'The Hurricane' to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the cinema.
The cinema ran up until 1989 when it was finally closed due to costs and lack of local support. The doors closed for the 2nd time on the 30th November 1989.
In the mid 80's The State was granted listed status to protect the art deco interior.
In January 1991 the cinema opened again but this time under the name of 'Charleston’s Nightspot'. This new lease of life showed the cinema as a trendy wine bar / night club. Some renovations were made but in a whole the state was kept unchanged. Charleston’s also put on evening concerts in the auditorium, some of the names that performed there include, Suzi Quattro & David Essex. After 7 years it closed again in 1998.
In February 2000, the listed status on the building was upgraded to Grade II listed.
Various plans have been made for The State including an application by the 'Peniel Pentecostal Church' for the building to be used as a church but it was dismissed.
Planning permission was approved for supermarket chain 'Morrison’s' to build a store on the states old car park; this was at a cost of £10 million pounds. As part of the deal Morrison’s, promised Thurrock Council that they would upkeep the now vacant State Cinema. In 2001 that there was water damage inside the main auditorium but the leak was sealed to prevent any further water ingress.
In 2003 another structural survey was carried out by the supermarket chain, this told a different story to the one a few years before. Although the main integrity of the building was secure there was a big issue with water ingress. This was later found out to be due to poor water drainage on the roof and also poor roof fixings. This ingress slowly ate away at the walls, starting a decaying process which couldn't be altered just by 'patching the roof up again'.
The building was sold in October 2006 to TSP Properties LTD for £550,000 (A Steal considering the Compton Organ is probably worth near that amount). TSP stated the cinema would never re-open under its built purpose but they would explore options to renovate and re-open The State as a leisure hub. TSP owned The Cinema up until 2015 when it was reported pub chain 'Weatherspoon’s' had bought the building with views of turning it into a Pub.
In 2011 the cinema was broken into and vandals took metal from inside the state. They also took some of the pipes from the organ. These pipes were located under the stage and have no significant value on their own without the organ. It's estimated it would cost around £10,000 for the pipes to be replaced.
The Explore
This one had been on the cards for a while. We had checked it and checked it and checked it.
Out with the usual Essex crowd we decided to have a butchers and noticed a potential way in. With a bit of a squeeze one of us was in and a fire door soon opened and away we went.
We at first avoided the dalek alarms until we noticed they were actually going off with the weakest of noise as the batteries were dying lol
We made our ways around the cinema from the bar, to the projection room and eventually the auditorium.
This place is great inside, a proper old school cinema that reminded me of being a kid again.
It’s a shame that the water had gotten to it and damaged it so badly. But if Weatherspoon’s stick to their plans for the place it should all be good again. Essex meet anyone?
Whilst mucking around on the stage we noticed the override mechanism and handle for the organ and wound it up out of the stage for a better look at it. It truly is an awesome sight and wasted sat there alone in the dark.
We have tried to have a revisit of this place but our original point of entrance is no longer viable. Gutting really as it would be nice to see again.
Enjoy the pics
The projection room, still with its lowly Peerless projectors intact
The bar area with its smaller Compton organ
The auditorium
The other Compton organ
