London Theatres in 1900: The Hippodrome

Antiques from London on eBay

JULIEN: Great Britain Dover London - b689 - 1760
23 Jul 2011 at 6:07am
US $39.90
End Date: Friday May-18-2012 4:12:05 PDT
Buy It Now for only: US $39.90
Buy it now | Add to watch list
ANTIQUE 1922 ENGLAND LONDON GEOLOGICAL COAL IRON MAP NR
22 Aug 2011 at 7:32am
US $9.99
End Date: Friday May-18-2012 5:37:36 PDT
Buy It Now for only: US $9.99
Buy it now | Add to watch list

Arthur H. Beavan continued his survey of London's music hall theatres, in Imperial London, published in 1901, with this look at the Hippodrome:

The Hippodrome, opened in 1900, at the corner of Cranbourne Street and Charing Cross Road, is a special place, and demands some little description.

It is entirely masked by shops, but is easily recognized from afar by the colossal two-horsed chariot and charioteer on the roof of the entrance-hall.

Astley's has vanished, as also have Hengler's and the Holborn Amphitheatre; the old-fashioned circus is dead, so far as the Metropolis is concerned.

But modern enterprise has given us this great theatre within whose walls equestrianism and "variety" go hand in hand.

Stupendous, putting its immediate rivals completely in the shade, the Hippodrome is so gorgeous a structure that it must be seen to be believed.

Entering through a series of decorated foyers and corridors, one is impressed at once by the magnificence of the auditorium.

Cantilevers have been used in the construction of circles, whose depth recalls those at Her Majesty's Theatre, and no pillars impede the view.

Decorations in the style of the Flemish Renaissance give beauty and warmth to the whole, while coolness is secured in hot weather by means of a roof which bares the arena to the sky.

Both the stage and the ring are unique in their way.

The former is constructed upon steel girders, which, with the aid of hydraulic rams, raise the "boards" to their usual elevation or lower them to the level of the arena.

In the ring itself is something to wonder at.

So long as the horses are there, the arena presents a solid unbroken surface, but when the performance is about to take amphibious shape, a wondrous transformation is seen.

Almost in the twinkling of an eye, the great circular platform begins to descend; the spectator discovers that the arena is in reality a huge tank, containing about 100,000 gallons of water, which wells up to the surface as the floor of the ring sinks out of sight.

At one moment, a bare-back equestrienne may be sweeping round the circle, and at the next a bevy of bathers may be plunging into a miniature lake.

But even here the mechanical devices of this marvellous ring do not reach their limit; for when necessary a lofty grille rises and converts the circle into a cage wherein lions and other wild beasts go through their performances.

Next: London's Concert Halls in 1900: The Hanover Square Rooms