At the start of World War II there were 52 cinemas operating in Sheffield. Two more opened after the war. The very last of them closed in 1988, just as the first of the modern multiplex cinemas were opening across the city.

In the early 1980s Mike Higginbottom surveyed the then surviving cinema buildings within the old city boundary, and showed the results at a Victorian Society lecture in 1985. At that time, at least twenty-one cinema buildings remained substantially intact, if not in use.

Since then two pre-war Sheffield cinemas, the Abbeydale and the Adelphi, have been listed Grade II and at least ten have been demolished.

Mike’s recent re-survey shows the current condition of Sheffield’s surviving cinema heritage, including some surprising survivals.

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