THEN: A view of Angel Street, Worcester, below possibly dating back to the early 1900s.
The distinctive Theatre Royal was first built in 1779 at a cost of £1,000 and proved successful until a decline in the 1850s.
A new theatre was built on the site in 1875 but lasted just two years until it succumbed to a major fire.
The theatre rose again quickly and came back into fashion via yet more rebuilds in 1903 and 1912, the latter again due to fire.
Next door, the grade II-listed Shakespeare Hotel (here missing an ‘e’) dated from around 1800 and started off as a three-storey house.
It would have been a handy place for interval drinks from the theatre though there were at least three other hostelries close by.
NOW: The same location in Angel Street, Worcester, in 2024 below.
The curtain finally came down on the Theatre Royal in 1955 and it was demolished for the final time by 1960.
A car showroom and then a supermarket took its place, finally as a Co-op, but the building has been empty since 2016 and deteriorated to its current state.
The Shakespeare Hotel became The Cricketers in the 1990s and, despite the sign proclaiming televised live sports, has been shut since Covid hit in 2020.
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