Golders Green Hippodrome

Theatre in London

The Golders Green Hippodrome was built in 1913 by Bertie Crewe as a 3,000 seat music hall, to serve North London and the new London Underground Northern line expansion into Golders Green in the London Borough of Barnet, London, England. Taken over by the BBC in the 1960s as a television studio, it has been put to more recent use as a radio studio and multi purpose concert venue. In 2007, it became an evangelical church building. In 2017 it was acquired by Markaz El Tathgheef El Eslami (Centre for Islamic Enlightening). It was to be converted into an Islamic centre, but residents objected, and Barnet council deferred a decision.

The Grade II listed Hippodrome Theatre building next to Golders Green Underground station was built as a 3,000 seat music hall by Bertie Crewe, and opened on Boxing Day 1913. Its capacity was reduced by half with the construction of a full theatre stage, and it began to be used for pre and post London tours, and has been used as a receiving venue for West End transfers Laurence Olivier, Marlene Dietrich, Stephane Grappelli, Arthur Askey, Charlie Chester, Django Reinhardt and Chico Marx played there. Donald Swann's Wild Thyme played in 1955, and its regular performances included an annual pantomime and Ralph Reader's Gang Show. After the Streatham Hill Theatre opened in 1929, these two venues operated as sister theatres, with shows appearing at both as part of their tours. Touring opera was still popular at the time, and pre war performances included the British National Opera Company and post War in 1952 with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company and a filmed production of The Mikado in 1966. The theatre appeared in an early British sexploitation nudist film called Naked as Nature Intended (1961) directed by Harrison Marks and starring Pamela Green.

After the BBC left the theatre in August 2003, it was left unused and deteriorated considerably, to the extent that, in early 2005, the venue was placed on English Heritage’s ‘buildings at risk’ register as its future had become so uncertain. Barnet Council was keen for the building to carry on being used as an entertainment venue, and the BBC was given 18 months to sell it as such. However, since no buyer was forthcoming, the local authority allowed it to be sold at auction in September 2006 with the potential for being developed for other uses for which the BBC had already applied but been turned down. For planning purposes the Hippodrome came to be classed as 'D2' under the 'Use Classes Order' and not under sui generis, exclusively as a theatre, as no stage productions had taken place for more than 40 years. The 'D2' class meant that potential buyers could use the theatre for: "Cinemas, Dance and Concert Halls, Sports Halls, Swimming Baths, other Indoor Sports and Leisure Uses." The theatre's potential fate galvanised a group formed of various interest groups and local newspapers, including Save London's Theatres Campaign, the Theatres Trust, the Hendon Times and the Hampstead & Highgate Express.

In early 2007, the Christian group El Shaddai International Christian Centre purchased the Hippodrome for £5million, despite local concerns over the group's beliefs and its intentions for the building.

In 2017, El Shaddai International Christian Centre sold the building and it was bought by the Markaz al Tathgeef al Islami (The Centre for Islamic Enlightening), a Shia Islamic centre. There was a backlash from some members of the local community of Golders Green towards the centre, claiming that the venue should not be granted a 'place of worship' licence.