| A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE ATHENAEUM
This area of Warminster was not developed until the middle ages and stood on the eastern fringes of the market town. There has been speculation for many centuries that the medieval Kyngeston Manor stood on or near the site, formerly known as Cornhylle, or even been part of the earlier properties. There is currently no known evidence to support these rumours. The first recorded evidence for the site is 1692, when the 1st Viscount Weymouth leased a property to Alice Exton. Three years later The Search Hoop Inn is first recorded as standing on the site. This Inn and subsequent buildings share common foundations. The Inn serves travellers and local corn merchants who attend the bustling Saturday corn market up until a fire in 1817 that destroys all, or part of the buildings on the site - which include outhouses, stables and a malthouse. The following year the Inn is rebuilt by Samuel Provis and renamed the London Inn. This property becomes a noted coaching point for the town, as well as a posting point, and briefly home of the Inspector in charge of the newly established County Police 1840 - 42. By 1854 the Inn is empty and without a landlord. In November 1850, a group of local professional men establish an Athenæum institution; “to afford intellectual enjoyment as a means of cultivating literary taste and with the help of the people of Warminster, improve the partial education of pupils at the British and National Schools, rendering necessary on account of the early age at which children were removed from such schools.” This group meets at The Literary Institution in The Market Place and grows in popularity. The Athenæum hold lectures in The Town Hall and readings. Soon they outgrow the rented premises and seek a new home. After several attempts to purchase other properties, The London Inn is chosen as a new venue. Negotiations are made with the Marquess of Bath and the land leased for the purposes of the Institution. During 1857, all of the buildings to the west and north are pulled down and the site is cleared. The property to the east occupied by a printer Mr Palmer, his family and business, is not demolished. A small Lecture Hall to the north is the first part to be erected followed by the main buildings at the front. These contain a reading room, library and recreation room on the ground floor, with two class rooms on the first floor. The Athenæum flourishes as a meeting place and a centre of learning, with lectures and readings and entertainment. In time, the hall is replaced by the larger Victorian hall still seen today, with its committee rooms beyond. As the years progress, the fortunes of Warminster and the Athenæum change. The opening up of the railway line brings a slow end to the corn market and an exodus of population. By 1895, the Institution is faltering and passes into the hands of new trustees - the Urban District Council - who reform the charity and expand the community and recreation uses of the building; extending the recreation room (now the Gallery) and adding a skittle alley (now the toilet block). The educational aspect of the Institution is greatly expanded in 1901 with an extension to the building in the form of a school building (now the Youth Centre) that make use of the first floor rooms of the Athenæum up to 1931. Although the Athenæum continues to be a popular venue for the town, social changes alter its use. The advent of daily papers and public libraries make the Institution defunct. The lecture circuits make way to cinema. By 1912 the Athenæum follows suit and is converted into The Palace Cinema. Alterations are made to house equipment. Stage activities continue on certain days and later a billiards club is added in the old reading room. The Palace cinema serves the community and troops through the Great War and the 1920’s, coming into its own with the dawn of ‘talkies’ in the 1930’s. Plans are approved and the most extensive alterations made to the building in 1935. The lower front bay is removed and an opening punched through the heart of the building to the hall. Flying exit galleries on the first floor are added as a means of escape, and backstage rooms are tagged on. The Palace attracts the same level of support as the industry nationally - reaching a peak in the 1940’s and 50’s. By 1964 the building is dilapidated and past its prime - competition from the larger, plush Regal cinema on Weymouth Street and television see the building close down. In 1969, the building reopens as an Arts Centre for Warminster having been extensively improved and modernised. The building begins a period of stability and expansion as the cultural heart of the town with plays, cinema, lectures, concerts and a coffee shop. The volunteer organisation that operates the Centre reforms in the 1970’s becoming a limited company seeking to expand its remit to the district at large - broadening its cultural appeal. In 1993, major refurbishment work is undertaken costing towards £100,000 funded by the District Council and Southern Arts. The majority of the building is redecorated, the foyer is altered and upgraded, the lounge turned into an enclosed gallery , the redundant caretaker’s house is altered, with offices created for the staff. By the mid 1990’s a new director is employed to raise the profile of the venue and meet the needs of the Arts funding bodies - at times offering a programme that is too adventurous, costly and lacking in appeal for the customers. An expanding workforce, to meet the demands of a professional venue, over-stretch the company and it is forced into liquidation in 1997. Once more The Athenaeum lies dormant. In the autumn of 1998 the District Council call a public meeting to gauge the level of support for rescuing the building, and as a means of relinquishing its trusteeship. A steering group of local supporters is formed and negotiations begin to secure ownership of the now closed Athenæum. In the autumn of 2000 six members of the Steering Group are appointed trustees of a newly reformed Athenæum, the charity referring back to the 1850 constitution. All parts of the building and its contents come under the control of the single ‘Warminster Athenæum Trust’ and the building is renamed the Athenæum Centre for the Community. In the subsequent years the trustees work to expand the use of the building to secure its long term future and make progress to upgrade and restore the neglected areas of the building. Major works are undertaken to upgrade the heating, water supply, decoration and restore the roof surfaces. In 2005 the trustees drew up plans to take the Centre to a new level of community inclusion, with an ambitious scheme to develop a void between the main building and the hall - opening up the venue to the less able members of the community. This is a scheme that, along with a community kitchen, accessible toilet, and lift was completed in Spring 2011 - the most extensive alteration to the fabric of the building since the 1930s. Building work is again under-way, developing the Centre further; improving the entrance steps, redeveloping the toilet facilities, stage and dressing rooms, and generally improving access around the building - making the Athenæum a true Centre for all the people of Warminster to enjoy. Throughout its long and varied history the Athenæum has flourished, faltered and fallen time and again - only to be reinvented, adapted, changed and developed to meet the demands of society and the local community. From library, lecture hall, school, cinema, concert hall, arts centre, meeting place to community centre. It has never stood still - ever altering, evolving, improving, but always remaining a cherished building at the heart of the community. |