Scott Cinema (originally the Odeon Cinema) was a cinema in

Bridgwater Bridgwater is a historic market town and civil parish in Somerset, England. The town had a population of 41,276 at the 2021 census. Bridgwater is at the edge of the Somerset Levels, in level and well-wooded country. The town lies along both sid ...

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

England. Built in 1936, it was notable for its

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

style.

History

The Odeon

The cinema opened as one of the chain of

Odeon Cinemas Odeon Cinemas Limited, trading as Odeon (stylised in all caps), is a cinema brand name operating in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Norway and Greece, which along with UCI Cinemas and Nordic Cinema Group is part of the Odeon Cinemas Group subsi ...

. It was designed by

Thomas Cecil Howitt Thomas Cecil Howitt, OBE (6 June 1889 – 3 September 1968) was a British provincial architect of the 20th Century. Howitt is chiefly remembered for designing prominent public buildings, such as the Council House and Processional Way in N ...

, who designed other cinemas of the Odeon chain including the

Odeon Cinema, Weston-super-Mare The Plaza Cinema is an art deco cinema in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, owned by Merlin Cinemas. It was built by Odeon Cinemas and known as the Odeon Weston-super-Mare until 2023. It was designed by Thomas Cecil Howitt and is a Grade II listed b ...

. The film '' The Amateur Gentleman'' was shown on the opening night, 13 July 1936."Scott Cinema"
''Cinema Treasures''. Retrieved 24 February 2021."Odeon Cinema Bridgwater, Somerset"
''Modernist Britain''. Retrieved 24 February 2021. The auditorium seated 1,525, of which 931 were in the stalls and 594 in a raised balcony that did not overhang the stalls. There were stage facilities, used by local drama companies. Externally, the corner entrance was below a tower, and to its left the building included a row of shops with flats above.

The Classic, and later

It was renamed the Classic in 1967, after its sale to the Classic Cinema chain. In 1973 there was a conversion into a bingo club in the stalls section, and two cinemas, each seating 250, in the raised balcony section. It closed as a Classic Cinema in 1983, and later opened as an independent company. Following this, it then formed part of the Scott Cinemas chain, being renamed Scott Cinema about 2005. There was refurbishment in 2005, 2011 and 2013."Your Bridgwater Cinema: Cinema History"
''Scott Cinemas, Bridgwater''. Retrieved 25 February 2021. The cinema finally closed on the 29 September 2022 after 86 years of operation, prior to Scott Cinemas moving to a new cinema nearby at Northgate Yard, Bridgwater."Scott Cinemas announces closure of current Bridgwater venue"
''Bridgwater Mercury''. Retrieved 6 October 2023.

References

{{reflist Bridgwater 1936 establishments in England Former cinemas in England Cinemas in Somerset Art Deco architecture in England