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Luxurious, grand and spectacular the Gaumont State was the largest cinema/theatre in Europe when it opened in December 1937.
With 20 dressing rooms, a stage 100 foot wide, a magnificent Wurlitzer organ, an orchestra pit, a radio recording room, the latest cine equipment and its own workshops to construct stage sets, there was nothing like it.
The Grade 2* listed building has had various incarnations in its first 70 years, as a cinema, theatre, concert venue and popular bingo hall before being sold to Ruach Ministries in December 2007 who have converted it into a church.
David Neale, a leading campaigner for the State and its Wurlitzer tells its story. David has been associated with the State for fifty years, having started as a rewind boy in the projection box in 1959.
We shot the video over several years and edited it in 2010. It includes many of Dave’s photographs.
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