Queen’s Theatre in Hornchurch listed as part of Jubilee celebrations

Theatres Trust is pleased to have been able to support the application to have the Queen’s Theatre in Hornchurch listed as part of Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee.

Six sites have been newly listed by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) on Historic England’s advice, in celebration of Her Majesty the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

The Queen’s Theatre in Hornchurch has been listed at Grade II in recognition of its significance as a quintessential 1970s civic theatre.

The Queen’s Theatre was opened in 1975 by Sir Peter Hall, Director of the National Theatre. It replaced a theatre which had opened in a converted cinema building on the site in 1953, which deteriorated in the following years so needed replacement. The Queen visited with the Duke of Edinburgh in 2003 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the theatre on its original site, which also coincided with the 50th anniversary of Her Majesty’s coronation, the reason for its naming as Queen’s Theatre.

The Queen’s Theatre is a distinctive and well-designed example of 1970s theatre design and remains relatively intact. The external features are clearly influenced by the work of renowned German architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.

Mark Price, Heritage Adviser at Theatres Trust says “Theatres Trust is delighted that the Queen’s Theatre in Hornchurch has been selected for listing in celebration of Her Majesty the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. We supported the listing application on the grounds that the Queen’s Theatre is a successful example of a post-war local authority-built civic theatre. It is fantastic that a theatre has been included in this select list as theatre buildings play such an important role in the UK’s cultural heritage”.

Read more about the Queen's Theatre in our Theatres Database.

See the list entry for the Queen's Theatre on the Historic England website.

Image Credits - Copyright Historic England Archive