Coliseum Cinema

Derby’s Congregational Chapel was designed by Henry Isaac Stevens and completed in 1843. It stood on the corner of Traffic Street and London Road on a plot of 1,600 square yards. Built of brick with a stucco finish, it featured five circular-headed windows on each side and a large square window at the eastern end. A portico supported by four Corinthian columns in Hollington stone formed the entrance. The contractors were Messrs Gascoyne, and the chapel attracted large congregations. In 1934 the building became the Coliseum Cinema, competing directly with the nearby Odeon. The conversion kept the grand portico and pediment, giving the cinema a dignified presence. It closed in August 1961 when Traffic Street was widened, and the building was demolished early the next year. No trace remains today, though the organ survives elsewhere. The organ itself was built by Forster and Andrews in 1846 and moved to the United Reformed Church on Carlton Road after the chapel closed. Its 1934 specification is recorded in the National Pipe Organ Register. The chapel’s elegant design and later life as a cinema mark an important chapter in Derby’s history.