Church Hill Theatre is a
Category B listed
This is a list of Category A listed buildings in Scotland, which are among the listed buildings of the United Kingdom.
For a fuller list, see the pages linked on List of listed buildings in Scotland.
Key
The organization of the lists in th ...
pink sandstone former church and current theatre venue owned by the
Edinburgh City Council
The City of Edinburgh Council is the local government authority for the city of Edinburgh, capital of Scotland. With a population of in mid-2019, it is the second most populous local authority area in Scotland.
In its current form, the counci ...
. Built originally as Morningside Free Church, the council purchased it in 1960. After undergoing an extensive refurbishment, it re-opened in August 2006. It is managed by the team operating the
Assembly Rooms
In Great Britain and Ireland, especially in the 18th century Britain, 18th and 19th centuries, assembly rooms were gathering places for members of the higher social classes open to members of both sexes. At that time most entertaining was done ...
.
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History
It was built in 1892 as North Morningside Free Church to a design by Hippolyte Blanc
Hippolyte Jean Blanc (18 August 1844 – 17 March 1917) was a Scottish architect. Best known for his church buildings in the Gothic revival style, Blanc was also a keen antiquarian who oversaw meticulously researched restoration projects.
...
and purchased by Edinburgh's town council in 1960.
Current use
It is a popular venue for amateur drama productions, as well as for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...
and Edinburgh International Festival
The Edinburgh International Festival is an annual arts festival in Edinburgh, Scotland, spread over the final three weeks in August. Notable figures from the international world of music (especially european classical music, classical music) and ...
. Some of the non-professional theatre and dance companies it hosts include Lothian Youth Arts And Musicals Company, Tempo, Showcase, Edinburgh Telephone Choir, Edinburgh Music Theatre Company, Leitheatre, Edinburgh University Footlights, Buckstone Youth Dance, Manor School of Ballet and Edinburgh Dance Academy.[Church Hill Theatre - Council Venues and Halls - City of Edinburgh Council]
Facilities
The theatre auditorium seats 353, and the building has space for smaller functions.
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References
{{Buildings and Structures in Edinburgh, state=collapsed
Hippolyte Blanc buildings
Edinburgh Festival
Theatre in Edinburgh