Old Orchard Street Theatre in

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

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, was built as a provincial theatre before becoming a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

church. Since 1865, it has been a

Masonic Hall A Masonic Temple or Masonic Hall is, within Freemasonry, the room or edifice where a Masonic Lodge meets. Masonic Temple may also refer to an abstract spiritual goal and the conceptual ritualistic space of a meeting. Development and history I ...

. It is a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

Theatre

In 1705 the first theatre opened in Bath. The building by George Trim was small and cramped and made little profit in the years before its demolition in 1738. The site it was on is now the Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases. A New Theatre opened in Kingsmead Street in 1723 and operated until 1751. In 1747 John Hippisley proposed the construction of a new theatre and a revised version in 1748 just before his death. The planning was taken over by John Palmer, a local brewer and chandler, and Thomas Jelly. The site for a new theatre was chosen by John Wood, the Elder, who laid out much of the city, on the site of the old orchard of

Bath Abbey The Abbey Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, commonly known as Bath Abbey, is a parish church of the Church of England and former Benedictines, Benedictine monastery in Bath, Somerset, Bath, Somerset, England. Founded in the 7th century, i ...

. Construction work for the theatre in Old Orchard Street began in 1748, to designs by the architect Thomas Jolly of Hippesley and Watts, with the work being completed by John Powell in 1750. The theatre was long and board. The theatre, known as The St James Theatre, opened on 27 October, under the management of John Palmer, with a performance of

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

’s

Henry IV, Part 2 ''Henry IV, Part 2'' is a history play by William Shakespeare believed to have been written between 1596 and 1599. It is the third part of a tetralogy, preceded by '' Richard II'' and ''Henry IV, Part 1'' and succeeded by '' Henry V''. The p ...

Palmer obtained a royal patent in 1768 which enabled the use of the title 'Theatre Royal'; the first to achieve this outside London. He handed control to his son, also John Palmer who worked as his father's London agent, frequently travelling between London and Bath. Palmer also owned the Theatre Royal, King Street, in

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

, which now houses the

Bristol Old Vic Bristol Old Vic is a British theatre company based at the Theatre Royal, Bristol. The present company was established in 1946 as an offshoot of the Old Vic in London. It is associated with the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, which became a fin ...

. The two theatres shared one acting company, so Palmer had to move his actors, stagehands and props quickly between Bristol and Bath, he set up a coach service which provided safe, quick and efficient transport for his actors and materials. Later, when Palmer became involved in the Post Office, he believed that the coach service he had previously run between theatres could be utilised for a countrywide mail delivery service. He continued to manage the theatre until 1785 when he was appointed as Comptroller-General of the

Post Office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

, and handed control to two existing members of the company, William Keasberry and William Wyatt Dimond. Keasberry (1726–1797) was associated with the theatre as actor and manager from 1757 to 1795, first acting as manager during the season of 1760. In 1772 the young actor John Henderson joined the company and developed into a popular leading man before moving to theaters in London.

Sarah Siddons Sarah Siddons (''née'' Kemble; 5 July 1755 – 8 June 1831) was a Welsh actress, the best-known Tragedy, tragedienne of the 18th century. Contemporaneous critic William Hazlitt dubbed Siddons as "tragedy personified". She was the elder siste ...

joined the company between 1778 and 1782 and was among many leading actors of the day who performed at the theatre. During these years, the theatre performed an increasing number of plays written by women, and it has been suggested that this was due chiefly to the presence of Siddons in the company, as well as being related to the retirement of

David Garrick David Garrick (19 February 1716 – 20 January 1779) was an English actor, playwright, Actor-manager, theatre manager and producer who influenced nearly all aspects of European theatrical practice throughout the 18th century, and was a pupil a ...

. In 1791 Robert William Elliston made one of his earliest performances at the theatre. The building was used as a theatre until 1805, when the present Theatre Royal opened. In the early years of the 19th century,

Jane Austen Jane Austen ( ; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for #List of works, her six novels, which implicitly interpret, critique, and comment on the English landed gentry at the end of the 18th century ...

was familiar with the theatre in Orchard Street, which is believed to be the original of that described in chapter 12 of ''

Northanger Abbey ''Northanger Abbey'' ( ) is a coming-of-age novel and a satire of Gothic fiction, Gothic novels written by the English author Jane Austen. Although the title page is dated 1818 and the novel was published posthumously in 1817 with ''Persuasio ...

''.

Catholic church

After four years standing empty the building was converted into a

chapel by the authorities of Prior Park and

Downside Abbey Downside Abbey is a Benedictine monastery in England and the senior community of the English Benedictine Congregation. Until 2019, the community had close links with Downside School, for the education of children aged 11 to 18. Both the abbey ...

and consecrated in 1809. The conversion involved the removal of the stage, gallery and boxes. It was adapted by Henry Goodridge. After the

Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829 The Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829 ( 10 Geo. 4. c. 7), also known as the Catholic Emancipation Act 1829, was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that removed the sacramental tests that barred Roman Catholics in the United Kingdom f ...

removed many of the restrictions on Roman Catholics which had been introduced by the Act of Uniformity, the chapel became a church and was a site for the ordination of bishops, including Peter Augustine Baines. The vaults which had been used to store scenery was used to create stone tombs with 286 bodies being interred. The congregation grew and in the 1850s and early 1860s a new St John's Church was designed and built by Charles Francis Hansom. In 1863 the congregation transferred to St John's Church and most of the bodies which had been in the vaults moved to a new churchyard.

Masonic Hall

The building stood empty until 1866 when it and adjacent buildings in Pierrepont Place were acquired by the

Masonic Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

Royal Cumberland Lodge No. 53 for £636, to become their meeting hall. The building was damaged during the Baedeker Blitz of 1942. The hall is now the meeting place of eight Craft Lodges and 15 other Degrees. It is also currently available for functions and is occasionally used for performances.Old Theatre Royal
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References

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