Elain Harwood (1958 - 2023)

Theatres Trust is sad to note the passing of Elain Harwood architectural historian with Historic England, a post-Second World War English architecture specialist, and a Theatres Trust Life Friend.

Elain Harwood’s untimely death has robbed post-war English architecture of one of its most pre-eminent figures, known and loved for the passion and vitality she radiated.

Elain’s appeal lay in the fact that her considerable knowledge was shared with so many groups, individuals, amenities societies, and statutory agencies including Theatres Trust during her distinguished career.

She became fascinated by theatre during childhood visits to the Nottingham Playhouse. Theatres Trust benefitted from her encyclopaedic knowledge of theatre buildings and her desire to save them. Her statutory listing of many theatres, including the Dominion and the Fortune in London, was essential in preserving them.

Campaigns to save the Great Yarmouth Regent and Billingham Forum were effective and given solid academic justification through the rationale Elain applied to them. 

With Elain’s help our 1991 thematic review of post-war theatres added around a dozen theatres to the national list. Her contributions to Curtains!!! or A New Life for Old Theatres and The Theatres Trust Guide to British Theatres, 1750 - 1950 were significant, scholarly contributions from one whose Space, Hope and Brutalism: English Architecture 1945 - 1975 will surely be thought of as her magum opus.

Elain was generous with her time, wise in her counsel, and forthright in her assertions. She was an advocate for theatres, and with gratitude, Theatres Trust mourns her passing.

By Mark Price, Theatre Heritage Consultant

Photo by Ray Ritmeester