Woolstore Theatre
The outside of the theatre in 2022
AddressCodford
United Kingdom
Coordinates51°09′29″N 2°02′50″W / 51.1579589°N 2.04734272°W / 51.1579589; -2.04734272
Capacity107
Opened1928 (1928)
Website
www.thewoolstoretheatre.org.uk

The Woolstore Theatre is a theatre in the village of Codford, Wiltshire, England. The theatre has been operating since 1928, when it was built by Colonel Ralph Sneyd for his wife who enjoyed acting.

Cinema

The old wool store was converted into a cinema around 1906, and named the Codford Empire Cinema.[1] It provided entertainment to Australian troops during the First World War.

After the war, the cinema was turned into use as the village hall.[2]

Theatre foundation

Colonel Ralph Sneyd was from a distinguished family, with a family seat of Keele Hall, Staffordshire (now Keele University),[3] but following the death of his first wife, he was involved in a public scandal whilst attempting to divorce his second wife Irene Alexander on the grounds of adultery, which was widely reported in the press.[4][5][6][7]

Sneyd bought a large property in Codford, which included ownership of the Woolstore.[2] When he took a third wife, Dorothy Miller,[3] known as Stella, who enjoyed acting, he converted it to a theatre.[8] Stella formed a group called the Codford Amateurs, and their first play was performed at the Woolstore Theatre in 1928.[8]

By 1938, the company had grown and came fourth out of more than 200 entries in a national contest.[8]

The company shared some performers with other local groups such as the Warminster Operatic Society.[9]

The theatre was taken over by the military during the Second World War, and resumed in 1948. Colonel Sneyd died in 1949 and his wife moved away from the area, but the theatre company continued to use the venue until 1955.[8]

Community theatre

A separate organisation, the Woolstore County Theatre Club was started in Codford in the early 1950s, for people to learn about theatre, and in 1964, this merged with the Codford Amateurs, with the chairman of the Amateurs group purchasing the theatre, which was then transferred to benefactors to be held for the benefit of the theatre club.[8]

Honours

In the 2000 New Year Honours, Karen Johnstone was awarded an MBE for services to the community, particularly the Woolstore Theatre.[10]

References

  1. ↑ "Theatre work unearths a taste of wartime Codford". Gazette and Herald. 1 July 2005.
  2. 1 2 "History". The Woolstore Theatre.
  3. 1 2 "Death of Colonel Ralph Sneyd". Staffordshire Sentinel. 28 December 1949.
  4. ↑ "Colonel's divorce rescinded". Western Mail. 22 December 1925.
  5. ↑ "Col Ralph Sneyd granted a divorce decree". Staffordshire Sentinel. 21 May 1926.
  6. ↑ "Col. Ralph Sneyd's Divorce". Dundee Evening Telegraph. 18 December 1925.
  7. ↑ "Wife and her former lover". Westminster Gazette. 18 December 1925.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 "Woolstore Theatre, Codford". VCH Explore. Victoria County History. 23 September 1928. Archived from the original on 18 October 2020.
  9. ↑ Howell, Danny (1987). Yesterday's Warminster: an album of memories and curiosities. Barracuda. p. 83. ISBN 0860232824.
  10. ↑ "New Years Honours List - United Kingdom". The London Gazette. 31 December 1999.
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