The Old Orchard Street Theatre in Bath,

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

, England was built as a provincial theatre before becoming a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

Church and since 1865 has been a

Masonic Hall A Masonic Temple or Masonic Hall is, within Freemasonry, the room or edifice where a Masonic Lodge meets. Masonic Temple may also refer to an abstract spiritual goal and the conceptual ritualistic space of a meeting. Development and history In ...

. It is a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

Theatre

In 1705 the first theatre opened in Bath. The building by George Trim was small and cramped and made little profit in the years before its demolition in 1738. The site it was on is now the

Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases The Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases is a small, specialist NHS hospital on the Royal United Hospital (RUH) site in the northwestern outskirts of Bath, England. The hospital was founded in 1738 as a general hospital for the poor ...

. A New Theatre opened in Kingsmead Street in 1723 and operated until 1751. In 1747 John Hippisley proposed the construction of a new theatre and a revised version in 1748 just before his death. The planning was taken over by John Palmer, a local brewer and chandler. The site for a new theatre was chosen by John Wood, the Elder, who laid out much of the city, on the site of the old orchard of Bath Abbey. Construction work for the theatre in Old Orchard Street began in 1748, to designs by the architect Thomas Jolly of Hippesley and Watts, with the work being completed by John Powell in 1750. The theatre was long and board. The theatre, known as The St James Theatre, opened on 27 October, under the management of John Palmer, with a performance of

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

’s Henry IV, Part 2. Orchard-street-theatrerow

Palmer obtained a royal patent in 1768 which enabled the use of the title ‘Theatre Royal’; the first to achieve this outside London. He handed control to his son, also

John Palmer John Palmer may refer to: People Politicians * John Palmer (fl. 1377–1394), English politician * Sir John Palmer, 5th Baronet (1735–1817), British politician * John Palmer (1785–1840), U.S. congressman from New York * John Palmer (1842–19 ...

who worked as his father's London agent, frequently travelling between London and Bath. Palmer also owned the Theatre Royal, King Street, in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

, which now houses the

Bristol Old Vic Bristol Old Vic is a British theatre company based at the Theatre Royal, Bristol. The present company was established in 1946 as an offshoot of the Old Vic in London. It is associated with the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, which became a f ...

. The two theatres shared one acting company, so Palmer had to move his actors, stagehands and props quickly between Bristol and Bath, he set up a coach service which provided safe, quick and efficient transport for his actors and materials. Later, when Palmer became involved in the Post Office, he believed that the coach service he had previously run between theatres could be utilised for a countrywide mail delivery service. He continued to manage the theatre until 1785 when he was appointed as Comptroller-General of the

Post Office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional ser ...

, and handed control to two existing members of the company,

William Keasberry William Keasberry (1726 – 15 November 1797), sometimes spelt Keasbury, was an English actor and theatre manager of the 18th century whose career was chiefly in Bath, Somerset. The son of another William Keasberry, by his marriage to Catherin ...

and William Wyatt Dimond. Keasberry (1726–1797) was associated with the theatre as actor and manager from 1757 to 1795, first acting as manager during the season of 1760. In 1772 the young actor John Henderson joined the company and developed into a popular leading man before moving to theaters in London.

Sarah Siddons Sarah Siddons (''née'' Kemble; 5 July 1755 – 8 June 1831) was a Welsh actress, the best-known tragedienne of the 18th century. Contemporaneous critic William Hazlitt dubbed Siddons as "tragedy personified". She was the elder sister of Joh ...

joined the company between 1778 and 1782 and was among many leading actors of the day who performed at the theatre. During these years, the theatre performed an increasing number of plays written by women, and it has been suggested that this was due chiefly to the presence of Siddons in the company, as well as being related to the retirement of David Garrick. In 1791

Robert William Elliston Robert William Elliston (7 April 1774 – 7 July 1831) was an English actor and theatre manager. Life He was born in London, the son of a watchmaker. He was educated at St Paul's School, but ran away from home and made his first appearance on ...

made one of his earliest performances at the theatre. The building was used as a theatre until 1805, when the present Theatre Royal opened. In the early years of the 19th century, Jane Austen was familiar with the theatre in Orchard Street, which is believed to be the original of that described in chapter 12 of ''

Northanger Abbey ''Northanger Abbey'' () is a coming-of-age novel and a satire of Gothic novels written by Jane Austen. Austen was also influenced by Charlotte Lennox's '' The Female Quixote'' (1752). ''Northanger Abbey'' was completed in 1803, the first of ...

''.

Catholic church

After four years standing empty the building was converted into a

chapel by the authorities of

Prior Park Prior Park is a Neo-Palladian house that was designed by John Wood, the Elder, and built in the 1730s and 1740s for Ralph Allen on a hill overlooking Bath, Somerset, England. It has been designated as a Grade I listed building. The house was bu ...

and

Downside Abbey Downside Abbey is a Benedictine monastery in England and the senior community of the English Benedictine Congregation. Until 2019, the community had close links with Downside School, for the education of children aged eleven to eighteen. Both ...

and consecrated in 1809. The conversion involved the removal of the stage, gallery and boxes. It was adapted by Henry Goodridge. After the

Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829 The Catholic Relief Act 1829, also known as the Catholic Emancipation Act 1829, was passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom in 1829. It was the culmination of the process of Catholic emancipation throughout the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

removed many of the restrictions on Roman Catholics which had been introduced by the Act of Uniformity, the chapel became a church and was a site for the ordination of bishops, including Peter Augustine Baines. The vaults which had been used to store scenery was used to create stone tombs with 286 bodies being interred. The congregation grew and in the 1850s and early 1860s a new St John's Church was designed and built by Charles Francis Hansom. In 1863 the congregation transferred to St John's Church and most of the bodies which had been in the vaults moved to a new churchyard.

Masonic Hall

The building stood empty until 1866 when it and adjacent buildings in Pierrepont Place were acquired by the

Masonic Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

Royal Cumberland Lodge No. 53 for £636, to become their meeting hall. The building was damaged during the

Baedeker Blitz The Baedeker Blitz or Baedeker raids were a series of aerial attacks in April and May 1942 by the German ''Luftwaffe'' on English cities during the Second World War. The name derives from Baedeker, a series of German tourist guide books, inclu ...

of 1942. The hall is now the meeting place of eight Craft Lodges and 15 other Degrees. It is also currently available for functions and is occasionally used for performances.Old Theatre Royal
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References

Bibliography

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External links