Another cinema in Bury St Edmunds? The town had three once before...

Does Bury St Edmunds need a third cinema?

That was the question of many people's minds when plans were revealed for an Everyman Cinema in the basement of the town's former Debenhams at the arc shopping centre.

Bury already has blockbuster chain Cineworld just a stroll away from the empty department store and the independent playhouse Abbeygate Cinema has, under various guises, entertained crowds for almost a century.

Applicants Bury WM Unit Trust said the move would 'extend choice and convenience'. It would also mark a big screen comeback though for a chapter in the town's entertainment history when, for a period, film-goers were served by three cinemas.

While Abbeygate Cinema, in Hatter Street, has been a mainstay of the town centre since 1924, Bury was once home to The Odeon, where the former Cornhill Walk shopping centre stands, and The Playhouse in the Buttermarket which until recently was Argos and is now Cambridge Building Society.

There was also another cinema for a brief time in the town centre called The Empire.

Here we take a look at the history of each of the cinemas.

The Odeon/The Focus

With 1,300 seats, the art-deco Odeon stood majestically as an emblem to Hollywood's golden age.

Its opening in 1937 was a glitzy affair and was the first cinema in Bury to be designed for sound films.

The first full length feature film shown was Beloved Enemy and the movie's star Merle Oberon attended the opening.

During its heyday, younger generations could enjoy 'Saturday Morning Pictures' and audiences would pay 6d for downstairs and 9d for upstairs.

It was renamed The Focus in 1975 but, as audiences diminished due to home videos, it closed in 1982 and was demolished a year later.

However, before it was lost to history, fund-raiser Max Milburn oversaw its swansong.

Having been a founder of The Hindsight Investment Club in the early 1970s for local businessmen, he and other members formed a support group for Muscular Dystrophy and promoted two fund-raisers.

The first was a Bury to Thetford cycle marathon and the second saw the reopening of the cinema before demolition to witness a final full house for a gala screening of 1978 film Magic attended by director Sir Richard Attenborough and The Duke and Duchess of Grafton.

Neighbouring auctioneers Cheval Lawrence, Ethelbert Taylor's barbershop and the White Lion pub were also demolished to make way for the Cornhill Walk shopping precinct.

Abbeygate Cinema

One of Bury's great survivors, Abbeygate Cinema has seen it all.

York House at 4 Hatter Street, once owned by auctioneer Henry Stanley, was demolished to make way for The Central Cinema, which was opened in 1924 by Ipswich cinema entrepreneur Douglas Bostock.

The 650 seat venue suffered major damage in 1930 when a discarded cigarette set light to a seat.

In 1959 it rebranded as The Abbeygate and the reopening was marked by the UK premiere of Please Turn Over starring comedian Ted Ray, who made a personal appearance together with other stars of the film Jean Kent, Leslie Phillips and Joan Sims.

From 1971 until 2010 it changed hands and names numerous times - owners included the Star group, Cannon Group and Hollywood Cinemas, while its other names were MGM, ABC and Odeon.

The circle was split into two screens and the former stalls turned into a bingo hall - until in 2010 it was taken over by the Picturehouse Cinemas chain.

It reopened as an all digital cinema with 3D, and was named Abbeygate Picturehouse.

In 2014 it was sold to a new company Abbeygate Cinemas Ltd.

It came after the Competitions Commission overuled an attempt by Cineworld to acquire City Screen which owned the Picturehouse Cinemas chain.

The Winners Bingo hall closed in 2014 after 20 years operating in the town with bosses pointing to a rapid decline in bingo clubs nationally due to falling admissions brought about by the smoking ban and the rise in popularity of online bingo.

In 2018 work began to convert the space into a new cinema auditorium.

Abbeygate unveiled its 180-seater premier screen in July 2020 and has further plans to expand its dining spaces as well as add an additional screen.

The Playhouse

Once also owned by the Bostocks, The Playhouse occupied a prime site in Buttermarket, which more recently was Argos and is now Cambridge Building Society.

It opened in 1925 and originally doubled as a theatre with a large stage and dressing rooms.

By the 1930s it was operating as a cinema and was converted into a Co-op store in 1959.

The Empire

Douglas Bostock opened The Empire cinema, where today’s Market Thoroughfare and St Andrew's St South meet, in January 1911.

It was destroyed in a fire on January 7, 1926.