The Screen on the Green

The Screen on the Green is one of the oldest continuously operating cinemas in the United Kingdom, having first opened its doors in October nineteen thirteen. The building began as the Empress Picture Theatre, a purpose-built venue constructed on the site of several demolished local shops, including a printer, a confectionery, and a sign writer. While it is now a sleek, boutique movie house, its early years were far more modest. By the middle of the twentieth century, under the name The Rex, the cinema had fallen into disrepair and gained a reputation locally as a run-down fleapit.