Victorian Music Hall Malt Cross


Useful Information

Location: 16 St James's St, Nottingham NG1 6FG
(52.95304724121844, -1.1523935908318312)
Open: All year Tue-Thu 16-22, Fri 14-22, Sat 11-22, Sun 12-22.
Malt Cross Heritage Tour: All year Wed 12:30, Sat 10:30, 12:30.
[2021]
Fee: free.
Malt Cross Heritage Tour: Adults GBP 5.
[2021]
Classification: SubterraneaCellar sandstone
Light: LightIncandescent Electric Light System
Dimension:  
Guided tours: D=60 min, St=20.
Photography: allowed
Accessibility: no
Bibliography:  
Address: Victorian Music Hall Malt Cross, 16 St James's St, Nottingham NG1 6FG, Tel: +44-115-941-1048.
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then.
Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1806 Malt Cross monument demolished and place cleared.
1877 Malt Cross Music Hall built.
1880 mortgage foreclosed.
1914 Music Hall shut down, because it had become “a haunt for felons and whores.”
1918 used as a warehouse.
1981 bought by Purdy and Klein.
1983 reopened as a Music Hall.
1989 lease purchased by the Potter’s House Trust, a charity who renamed it The Potter’s House and changed it to a coffee shop.
1997 carefully restored.
2003 building purchased by a group of churches for social use.
2014 significant Heritage Lottery Funding and restored again but also expanded, caves opened up.

Description

The Victorian Music Hall Malt Cross is one of only a few Victorian music halls still standing. It is a still a café and pub that hosts live music events. It is located on St James Street in Nottingham city centre. The name is from a monument which was demolished in 1806. Malt Cross once was a popular gathering place on the market square. It was destroyed at the begin of the 19th century, its remains were cleared in 1806.

The Victorian Music Hall was erected nearby, on the premises of an inn named the Roebuck. The inn was bought by a jack of all trades named Mr Charles Weldon, who demolished it and erected the music hall. The building is exceptional, with a high-arched glazed roof. The wooden arches of this roof are built from ten layers of laminated wood on the inner arches and twelve on the outer. They have no visible nail or bolt hole, and it is thought that they are held together by glue alone. It was named Malt Cross, because the name was still well known. Its not known if he was successful, but obviously it was not good enough for the mortgage of £5,500, wich was foreclosed in 1880. Then there was a frequent change of management.

The Malt Cross is a Grade II listed Victorian Music Hall, because it is the only Victorian Music Hall in the country that operates as it's original design intended, providing food, drink and live music. In 1997 and 2014 is was restored, but while the first time changes in the design were reversed, the second time it was expanded to make full use of the 6 levels within the site. This includes the cevas below which were open to the public for the first time. The second renovation was financed by a significant Heritage Lottery Funding. As a result it was a brand new art gallery, there was sound recording room, and a brand new craft workshop for schools to come along and get creative.

The caves can be visited on regular tours. Those tours are listed on the official website and must be booked online. Currently [2021] there are no tours or other events due to Corona.