Site of Castle Cinema, Caerphilly

Site of Castle Cinema, Market Street

The offices of Brinsons estate agents stand on the site of the Castle Cinema, once a popular institution for Caerphilly residents.

Aerial photo of Caerphilly including cinema in 1947
Caerphilly in 1947 with the Castle Cinema near the top,
courtesy of the RCAHMW and its Coflein website

The cinema was built in 1913, providing more than 800 seats. It was badly damaged by fire on 3 October 1943. Thirty members of the National Fire Service dealt with the incident and managed to save the projectors, the stage and most of the seating, but a large part of the roof collapsed. Steel and other materials for repairs were scarce, because fighting the Second World War took priority. However, by October 1943 many American soldiers were billeted with families in Caerphilly as part of the build-up of people and equipment for the D-Day landings in 1944, when the Allies began to release France from Nazi occupation.

The Castle Cinema, and the nearby cinema at the Workmen’s Hall, provided the main entertainment for the Americans and local residents. The Castle Cinema was repaired after the manageress, Mrs Bonney, applied to the local authority which agreed to make a priority order, under the wartime regulations, for the materials required.

The 1947 aerial photo, courtesy of the Royal Commission on the Ancient & Historical Monuments of Wales, shows the town centre with the cinema prominent in the upper right quarter. It is from the Aerofilms Collection of the National Monuments Record of Wales.

In December 1976 the controversial punk band The Sex Pistols played at the Castle Cinema. It had arranged a UK tour with other punk groups including The Clash, but most of the gigs were cancelled after local authorities bowed to public pressure. The small audience for The Sex Pistols in Caerphilly was outnumbered by protestors who sang Christmas carols and hymns outside the Castle Cinema. One of the councillors who took part later sent a letter to the band’s manager, Malcolm McLaren, apologising for attempting to tell young people what they should listen to.

The Castle Cinema closed in 1989 and was a snooker club until it was demolished for the site to be redeveloped as offices for Brinsons. The firm was established in Caerphilly in 1900 as chartered surveyors and estate agents, serving the agricultural community as well as mine managers and others associated with local industries.

With thanks to Dennis Sellwood of Caerphilly Local History Society

Postcode: CF83 1NX    View Location Map

Website of Brinsons

Copies of the old photo and other images are available from the RCAHMW. Contact: nmr.wales@rcahmw.gov.uk

Footnotes: Personal recollections of the Castle Cinema

Audrey Tewell of Santa Ana, California, lived in Caerphilly as a young widow with two infants in the Second World War. In 1944 a young American soldier, Warren Randolph Tewell, began to flirt with her at the chemist’s shop where she worked. “Finally we had a ‘date’ and went to the Castle Cinema … seen by all, me a widow with a Yank! He put his arm around the back of my seat. Oh, I did feel strange. We got married in the Van Road chapel on September 4 1944.”

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