Towers Cinema

Towers Cinema
Towers Cinema Hornchurch, as Mecca Bingo
Towers Cinema Towers Cinema location in Greater London
General information
Type	Former cinema
Architectural style	Art Deco/Streamline Moderne
Address	31 High Street, Hornchurch, Essex, RM11 1TP
Town or city	Hornchurch, Essex
Country	United Kingdom
Coordinates	51°33′48″N 0°12′52″E / 51.5633485°N 0.2145259°E / 51.5633485; 0.2145259
Completed	1935
Opened	3 August 1935
Closed	6 October 1973
Design and construction
Architect	Leslie Hagger Kemp & Frederick Edward Tasker
Architecture firm	Kemp & Tasker
Other designers	Interior design by Clark & Fenn

Towers Cinema is a former cinema in Hornchurch, England. It was built in 1935 on part of the former Grey Towers estate and is noted for its Art Deco style of architecture. It was converted for use as a bingo hall in 1973. The Towers Cinema building has been threatened with demolition since 2015 and there is an ongoing local campaign to preserve the structure and to have it listed by Historic England.

The Towers Cinema was built on part of the former Grey Towers estate, a stately home which was demolished in 1931. During World War I, the estate had been requisitioned by the Army Council for use as a military hospital and army camp. Soldiers from Grey Towers set up a cinema on station lane, which later became the Queen's Theatre. A new Cinema, named The Towers after the old mansion house, was built on the southern boundary of the Grey Towers estate, at the west end of Hornchurch High Street.

The cinema was commissioned by David J. James, a brewing industrialist turned cinema impresario, for his D.J. James Cinema Circuit. It was designed by Leslie Hagger Kemp (1899–1997) and Frederick Edward Tasker, of the Kemp & Tasker partnership, which designed new and renovated existing cinemas for James' independent chain. Opening its doors on 3 August 1935, it provided facilities including an auditorium to seat 1799 patrons; a shallow stage with dressing rooms; a café-ballroom on the first floor that could seat 200; a cosmetics saloon for use by ladies; and an ample car park. The ornate interior of the cinema, including the auditorium, was designed by the firm Clark & Fenn. The opening programme was a double-bill screening of The Phantom Light starring Binnie Hale and Vagabond Lady starring Robert Young.