Saturday, July 18, 2026
The cinema in a church that became a curry house
They say that after the church's closure, a veteran of the cinema scene in South Wales, Lynn Thomas, bought the building and converted it into Studio Cinemas, which opened in 1977:
Studio Cinemas originally had two screens, but when a third was added, the cinema changed its name to Studios 1-2-3.
Screen 1 was located in the main body of the former church. Screen 2 was located in the former crypt underneath the building, and Screen 3 was placed behind Screen 1 - in the area formerly occupied by the altar.
According to accounts, the 484-capacity complex was a rather DIY affair. People who visited remember that:
* At least some of the seating was salvaged from the Albert Hall and the Carlton (two Swansea cinemas that had already closed, or were on their last legs).
* Two salvaged car speakers were mounted on the walls of Screen 3 and advertised as “Studio Stereo.”
* Projectors were set up on steel file cabinets laid on their side and the old church pews to get the beam above people’s heads.
* In the crypt, the screen was projected using a homemade inverted periscope.
The rather ramshackle nature of the cinema did cause some problems:
In March 1989, Swansea Council pulled up Lynn Thomas about the state of his premises, the front of which was full of rubbish and overgrown with brambles. “It’s a tip, an absolute disgrace,” Councillor Richard Lewis told the public protection committee.
Thomas defended himself, saying that he did tidy the premises daily, but by the evening it was full of discarded rubbish again. As for the brambles, he added that they “are living breathing things, though beauty is in the eye of the beholder… If the council is willing to give me a grant I will do something about it.”
There were complaints about the inside of the cinema too. Two years earlier, The Studio was at risk of losing its license after it was discovered that extensive fire safety work and repairs were required to bring it up to standard. Problems noted included batteries in the boiler room (an explosion risk), loose floorboards, filthy carpets, and fire exit doors that were bolted shut.
Despite all of its troubles, Studio Cinemas survived until the opening of Parc Tawe’s new £5 million 10-screen UCI cinema at the end of September 1989. It closed for its regular annual summer holiday in August, but never re-opened.
Lynn Thomas told The Evening Post in November of that year: “I am considering whether to close down and move elsewhere or re-open after major refurbishment… but so far nothing has been decided.”
Should he re-open, Thomas was concerned that a city like Swansea would not be able to sustain a total of 17 screens across all its cinemas. He added, “… change is inevitable and it may be that after being in a winning situation for 13 years we’re now in a losing situation.”
The Studio Cinemas building was put up for sale in April 1990, with plans at various times for a nightclub, or offices with an underground car park.
It was bought and renovated in the 2000s, becoming a rather smart Indian restaurant called Miahs. However, that business has also closed and the church is now derelict.
Labels: lochist
