Forgotten Ipswich: The rise of the new hippodrome
Ipswich's Woodbridge Road Hippodrome was the underdog of our entertainment past, and while it quietly vanished away, on the other end of town, the St Nicholas Street Hippodrome continued as a dazzling headliner – the one with the star architect, big stage, crowds and glamour.
The St Nicholas Street Hippodrome rose quickly, shone brightly, and left behind a trail of memories that still surface whenever someone mentions "the Savoy" or "the old Hippodrome."
It's the Hippodrome Ipswich embraced wholeheartedly, and the one whose ghost still lingers in Cardinal House.
A theatre built to steal the show
The new Hippodrome opened on Monday, 27 March 1905, designed by Frank Matcham, a celebrated theatre architect of the era, also responsible for the London Hippodrome.
The St Nicholas Street Hippodrome was a building meant to mesmerise, inspire and impress, from the moment you stepped inside. One early postcard shows the auditorium in all its Edwardian splendour: ornate plasterwork, elegant iron balustrades, and a stage framed like a jewel box.
Matcham’s design was peculiar:
- 1,850 seats
- One sweeping circle
- No boxes
- No slips
- And a huge stage – 50 feet wide, nearly 40 feet deep, with a 30-foot proscenium
It was built to host circus horses, acrobats, illusionists, variety stars, and anything else that needed space to gallop, tumble or fly. Much like his Brighton Hippodrome, it was a hybrid theatre – part circus arena, part music hall, part variety palace.
Two hippodromes, one town
The East Anglian Daily Times of 24 March 1905 carried advertisements for both Hippodromes: the Woodbridge Road Hippodrome, still gamely announcing its nightly shows, and the new St Nicholas Street Hippodrome, trumpeting its grand opening.
Nicola Sebastian
For a brief moment, Ipswich had two Hippodromes at once, confusing audiences and even postcard printers. One early card mislabels the new theatre as being on St Peter’s Street – a geographical hiccup that shows just how quickly Ipswich’s entertainment scene was changing.
The confusion didn’t last long. Within a year, the Woodbridge Road venue was fading, and the new Hippodrome was the place to be.
The variety years
By the early 1910s, the Hippodrome had been taken over by the Bostock Circuit, a Glasgow-based entertainment empire known for circus acts, menageries, and variety bills. Bostock also acquired the Lyceum Theatre, turning Ipswich into a lively stop on their national touring network.
Audiences flocked to see acrobats, illusionists, comic singers, equestrian displays and the kind of spectacular acts that needed a stage the size of a small sports hall. The Hippodrome was built for spectacle, and spectacle is exactly what it delivered.
Cinema, Savoy nights and the sound of the sixties
In 1929, the theatre was taken over by ABC Cinemas, and the Hippodrome entered its film era. The circus ring was removed, the seating re-raked, and projection equipment installed. It became a full-time cinema, though occasional live shows still graced the stage.
After a brief return to live theatre in the 1950s, the building closed in April 1957. But Ipswich wasn’t done with it yet.
Under new ownership, the stalls were levelled, the exterior altered, and in June 1959 the Hippodrome reopened as the Savoy Ballroom – a name that still sparks nostalgia among Ipswich residents.
One local recalled: “You could hear the bands from halfway down St Nicholas Street. Friday nights at the Savoy were electric.”
Another remembered seeing The Honeycombs there in the mid-60s, their hit Have I the Right? rattling the rafters. Others recall early beat groups, local rock ’n’ roll hopefuls, and nights when the dance floor was so packed you could barely move. For a few golden years, the Savoy was Ipswich’s answer to the swinging sixties.
By the late 1960s, however, the ballroom era faded, and the Hippodrome became a Top Rank Bingo Hall. Much of Matcham’s ornate plasterwork was removed or covered, though the ceiling – miraculously – survived.
The final act
Bingo ended in December 1982, and the building stood empty. In May 1984, The Stage newspaper delivered the final verdict: “Another notable theatrical landmark will disappear to make way in the march of progress – for a car park!”
It was a melancholy end for a building that had once hosted circus horses, variety stars, cinema crowds, ballroom dancers, and bingo regulars.
In 1985, the Hippodrome was demolished. Cardinal House, an office block, rose in its place – a practical structure, but one that gives no hint of the spectacle that once stood there.
The bottom line
Unlike the Woodbridge Road Hippodrome, the St Nicholas Street Hippodrome left behind postcards, anecdotes, newspaper clippings, and memories. It was a building that evolved with Ipswich – adapting to new tastes, new technologies, and new generations.
It was grand, it was noisy, it was occasionally chaotic, and it was loved.
Today, only photographs and recollections remain. But for eighty years, the Hippodrome was one of Ipswich’s beating hearts – a place where the town gathered to laugh, dance, watch, listen and be entertained.
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