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The Royal Aquarium and Winter Garden was a place of amusement in Westminster, London. It opened in 1876, and the building was demolished in 1903. The attraction was located northwest of Westminster Abbey on Tothill Street. The building was designed by Alfred Bedborough in an ornamental style faced with Portland stone. The Aquarium Theatre was located in the west end of the building and was renamed the Imperial Theatre in 1879. Methodist Central Hall now occupies the site.
The main hall was long by wide. A roof of glass and iron covered it. It was decorated with palm trees, fountains, pieces of original sculpture, thirteen large tanks meant to be filled with curious sea creatures and an orchestra capable of accommodating 400 performers. Surrounding the main hall were rooms for eating, smoking, reading and playing chess, as well as an art gallery, a skating rink and a theatre.McCann, Bill. "Central Hall and the Royal Aquarium" , Story of London, 23 September 2002 The Aquarium adopted an expensive system of supplying fresh and sea water from four cisterns sunk into the foundations. The system quickly ran into problems. The large tanks for fish did not contain any. This became a standing joke, but the directors did display a dead whale in 1877. The Illustrated London News 6 October 1977
By the 1890s, the Aquarium acquired a risqué reputation, as unaccompanied ladies promenaded through the hall in search of male companionship.Mander and Mitchenson, p. 213 Emily Turner, a visitor from Montreal, worked as a salesgirl at the Aquarium between October 1891 and January 1892. She met a Major Hamilton there, who bought her supper at Gatti's (in the Strand) and took her to entertainments at the Alhambra Theatre, promising to set her up in rooms in Lambeth. The major disappeared after providing her with "gelatin capsules" for a cough. The pills made her ill, and she stopped taking them. The unused pills were passed to Scotland Yard, and she was traced by Inspector Jarvis of the Metropolitan police. He identified the missing major as the serial killer Thomas Neill Cream. The pills were analysed and found to contain only quinine. Turner refused to identify Cream for fear of having to appear at the trial and have her own respectability questioned.McLaren, pp. 133–4
In 1880, George Leybourne popularised a song about the Aquarium that parodied Alfred Vance's song "Walking in the Zoo":
The all-day variety entertainments at the Aquarium turned less respectable, including billiards matches, novelty acts and side-shows of all kinds, and commercial stalls offering perfumery and gloves. George Robey made his first professional appearance at the Aquarium in 1891. Located across the street from the Houses of Parliament, the Aquarium was popular with members of the House of Commons. The comedian Arthur Roberts also sang a song about the Aquarium:
The School for Scandal played at the theatre in 1877, as did a revival of W. S. Gilbert's adaptation of Great Expectations.Adams, pp. 257 and 605 Samuel Phelps made his last appearance at the theatre in 1878. The farce Fun in a Fog played at the theatre in 1878, and Family Honour by Frank Marshall premiered in the same year.Adams, pp. 488 and 555 The theatre was named the Imperial Theatre in 1879. The Beaux' Stratagem by George Farquhar, She Stoops to Conquer by Goldsmith and The Poor Gentleman all played at the theatre that year.Adams, pp. 108, 131–32 and 392 Shakespeare's As You Like It and Anne Mie, by Roster Faasen, played at the theatre in 1880, as did the comic opera Billee Taylor, composed by Edward Solomon, with a libretto by Henry Pottinger Stephens.Adams, pp. 60, 83 and 159 Good-Natured Man played in 1881.Adams, p. 216 In 1882, Lillie Langtry appeared at the theatre in Tom Taylor's An Unequal Match. Good as Gold by Matthews Mone, Camille (an English adaptation of Dumas' play) and Auld Robin Gray by George Roy played here in 1883, as did Aurora Floyd, by J. B. Ashley and Cyril Melton, in 1885.Adams, pp. 91–93, 246 and 595 A Fast Life by Hubert O'Grady played in 1898.Adams, p. 496
In 1898, extensive alterations were made to the theatre by Walter Emden, and in 1901 it was rebuilt by Frank Verity for Lillie Langtry, who took over the theatre in 1900. "Imperial (London)", The Theatres Trust Its capacity was reduced to 1,150, with a stage width of and depth of . Langtry reopened the theatre in 1901 with Berton's A Royal Necklace. The theatre presented Everyman in 1902Adams, p. 472 and When We Dead Awaken by Henrik Ibsen in January 1903. George Bernard Shaw's The Admirable Bashville also played here in 1903.Adams, p. 623 Despite the high standard of her productions, the theatre was not successful, and Langtry withdrew in 1903.Hartnoll, Phyllis and Peter Found, "Imperial Theatre", The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre, Oxford University Press The theatre hosted His Majesty's Servant in 1904 and The Perfect Lover in 1905.
After the Royal Aquarium was demolished in 1903, the Imperial Theatre continued to stand on the site until it finally closed in 1907 and was pulled down. The interior of the theatre was saved and re-erected as the Imperial Palace in Canning Town in 1909.
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Categories: Buildings And Structures Demolished In 1903, Former Theatres In London, Former Buildings And Structures In The City Of Westminster, Former Music Hall Venues In The United Kingdom, Buildings And Structures Completed In 1876, 1907 Disestablishments In England, Event Venues Established In 1876, 1876 Establishments In England
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