The Notting Hill Coronet is a cinema, originally built as a theatre, in Notting Hill Gate in London, England.

The Coronet was designed as a theatre by leading architect W. G. R. Sprague (this man has his fingerprnts all over the West End) and opened in 1898. Famous actors who appeared at the theatre in its early days included Ellen Terry and Sarah Bernhardt. Sir John Gielgud saw his first Shakespeare play here. It suffered, however, from being outside the traditional London theatrical district of the West End, whilst being sufficiently close to that district (unlike other provincial theatres) to find itself in competition with it.

In 1923, it became a cinema full time, but it retained, as it still does, its original theatre interior, consisting of stalls and two upper tiers (a dress circle and a gallery). However, the boxes at each side of the auditorium, next to the stage, were removed in 1931.

In 1972, the Rank Organisation acquired the cinema and proposed to demolish the building, but a local campaign based on its architectural merit and interesting history, secured its survival and, indeed, further refurbishment. In 1977 it was sold by the Rank Organisation to an independent cinema operator, and its name reverted to the original Coronet.

In 2004, it was acquired by its present owners, Kensington Temple, a large local pentecostal church congregation. However, it continues to offer mainstream independent cinema programming, without any censorship or Christian slant. It was, for example, the cinema at which David Cameron was reported in the press to have watched Brokeback Mountain on its opening night.

The Coronet has also featured as a cinema location in its own right, most notably in the film Notting Hill.

The cinema has a fantastic atmosphere and the exterior and interior add some much needed glamour to a night out at the flicks. Across the road from Notting Hill Tube station, it's an easy detour from the West End.

 

103 Notting Hill Gate, London, W11 3LB

Call:    020 7727 6705