Cape Hill

History

The area began to be developed in the latter part of the 19th century. Henry Mitchell bought a large plot of land alongside the road and built his brewery there in 1879. This became Mitchells & Butlers Brewery when he entered into partnership with William Butler in 1897. The brewery grounds even included a county standard cricket pitch where Worcestershire CCC played an annual match. During the 19th and early 20th centuries the area became a thriving industrial and commercial area and in the 1950s and 60s it was a centre of immigration from the Commonwealth. Facing each other on opposite corners of Durban Road are Cape Hill Primary School and the building which was once the local dispensary. Both were constructed in red brick with terracotta facings in 1888. The school is still providing education for the local children but the dispensary is now an "at risk" Grade II Listed Building. There have been plans to turn the building into an emergency refuge for asylum seekers, a casino and a restaurant but none of these has come to fruition. Smethwick had several cinemas which had all closed by 1970. The earliest was the Cape Electric Cinema, built in 1911. On Windmill Lane was a skating rink built in 1909, but this was sold and converted into a cinema, named the Rink Picture House in 1912. In 1928 the cinema was taken over by Denman Picture Houses, the building demolished and the current building, designed by William T Benslyn erected. It was renamed the Gaumont Cinema in 1948. In 1964, the cinema closed and the building was repurposed for a bingo hall, eventually taken over by the Mecca Bingo chain. The building was listed on 4 October 2000. It has a three-storey, frontage to Windmill Lane. The listing particulars describe the art-deco style auditorium as extremely wide…