The Cinema, George Street, Oxford
The Odeon Cinema in George Street, Oxford,
photographed on 29 January 2025, the day after it closed for ever
The earlier cinema in George Street (1912–1935)
In 1912 the Oxford Cinematograph Theatre opened in George Street, three doors to the west of Gloucester Street and immediately to the east of St George's Place.
It was replaced in 1935 by the present cinema immediately to the west of St George's Place.
The present cinema (1935–2025)
(closed permanently on 28 January 2025 and about to be demolished and replaced: see below)
On 1 June 1934 the following report was published in the Oxford Times:
A new cinema is to be built on the site of the Employment Exchange in George Street by Union Cinemas Ltd. The new cinema will have a frontage of 140 feet to George Street.
The “employment exchange” to be demolished was in fact the massive St George-the-Martyr Chapel, which following its closure in 1919 had been used by the Ministry of Labour men‘s department. The new cinema occupied its site from St George's Place westwards as far as the Fire Station.
It was designed for Union Cinemas by Robert Cromie, who specialized in the design of theatres and cinemas.
The photograph below shows the new cinema in the 1930s (Historic England BB87/03857):
Another photograph dating from the 1930s (Picture Oxon 0097186) shows more of the cinema, with the name RITZ prominent on the corner edge and a large sign underneath proclaiming that its café was open to the public.
The cinema in George Street was listed as follows in Kelly's Directory up to the last edition in 1976:
- 1935–1936: Oxford & Berkshire Cinemas Ltd: Cinema [but was already the Ritz]
- 1938–1945: Union Cinemas Ltd: Cinema [Ritz]
- 1947–1963: Ritz (Associated British Cinemas Ltd)
- 1963–1976: ABC (Associated British Cinemas Ltd)
In more recent years it has several other names:
- 1986–1990s: Cannon
- 1995: MGM (briefly) before being taken over by ABC again following a management buy-out
- 2000–2025: Odeon
In April 1963 the auditorium of the Ritz was destroyed by fire, but it was reopened by Associated British Cinemas in October 1963 as the ABC. It was split into three auditoria in 1975.
In 2000 the cinema was taken over by Odeon Theatres.
- More information from “Cinema Treasures”
The sculpture on the outside of the old cinema
The bas-relief figure of Sabrina facing east high over the main entrance of the cinema (shown below) was designed by the sculptor Newbury Abbot Trent (1885–1953):
This bas-relief will be preserved and its proposed position in the new building has been changed by an amendment (24/01481/NMA) to the original planning permission to make it a public-facing heritage feature. It will now be sited in the North Elevation ground floor (initially located in the Community Space), with preservation details aligned to Planning Condition 7 (24/01481/CND).
The end of the cinema
Odeon Cinemas leased the building from the owners, Oxford City Council. This lease ran out in September 2024 and Odeon Cinemas chose not to renew it. The cinema closed down on 28 January 2025.
The City Council has agreed a 40-year lease with Makespace Oxford, a not-for-profit organisation, with a view to replacing the cinema with 6½-storey, 145-bed StayCity “apart-hotel” (where guests will have their own cooking facilities in addition to bedrooms and bathrooms). Half of the ground floor will be a community space.
The project is to be managed by Marick Real Estate Ltd, which hosted a one-day exhibition at the Old Fire Station in May 2024. Work is expected to start early in 2026.
- Website for the development
- BBC Oxfordshire: “Aparthotel plans for former cinema approved”
- Consultation information
- Approved planning application 24/01481/FUL
- Oxford Mail, 16 October 2024: “Cinema building to be demolished and replaced with aparthotel”
