However, on 7^th May 1915, the plans were approved subject to alterations. The architect was Walter Long. A list of Architects held by the RIBA mentions a W.H. Long of Leeds and although Long is not thought to have been local, the exterior treatment of the building suggests someone more fully conversant with the vernacular revival style employed in rural areas across south east England than might an architect from Yorkshire.

The building opened in 1916 but at first it operated as a garrison theatre for the troops stationed in the local area.

Films were already evident in Uckfield, from possibly as early as 1904, at the converted Foresters Hall in Harcourt Road. This cinema was operated by a local magistrate and although we don't know how true the story is, legend has it that he may have been reluctant to grant a licence to a rival establishment.

Films commenced at The Picture House in August 1920 and have continued ever since.

Mrs Measures bequeathed the cinema to her daughter, Mrs Leila Alicia Corbett Neale and she inherited it in 1925. A letter of 1931 surviving in the East Sussex Records Office is from her tenant William Harper (who lived in Forest Hill, London). It informed Mrs Neale that he was "contemplating putting in a talkie very shortly ….. I am compelled as silents are not being produced …. the electric is in the town, without the electric current (the) talkie was out of the question. I have been bothered by agents to sell the Picture House, (I) have ignored their letters saying I didn't intend selling, they have come to my private house bothering me". In the same year Mrs Neale sold the cinema outright to Harper.

For how long Harper ran the cinema himself we are not sure. We have a copy of a lease dated 14^th August 1958 in the name of P.V. Reynolds, however there is another document dated the day after for permission to carry out alterations to The Picture House, namely the installation of CinemaScope. So it may be that Reynolds held a previous lease.

Reynolds died either in late 1963 or early 1964 and his wife Doris sold the lease to Roy Markwick on 1^st February 1964. It has remained with the Markwick family ever since. In September 1964 The Picture House opened on a Sunday for the first time with the double feature Circus of Horrors and Conga.

The Markwick family have presided over the biggest changes at The Picture House. Roy refurbished the cinema, which had fallen into a sorry state of disrepair, in 1967. Installing brand new Westar projectors and Peerless lamphouses, replacing the old Walturdors and Ross Arcs which stood on the universal bases originally equipped for sound on disc in the very early thirties.

The seating was also refurbished and reduced in number from 500 to 305 for increased comfort. The cinema was also extensively re-decorated.

As cinema admissions continued to fall throughout the seventies Roy decided that The Picture house would have difficulty surviving as a single screen. Ambitious plans were drawn up to convert the cinema to two screens, and in

December 1978 the single screen version of The Picture House closed down with a performance of Death Wish. Doug Tourle of MTC Brickwork did a fantastic job of converting the cinema and Screen Two opened for business on 19^th March 1979 with the Clint Eastwood movie Every Which Way But Loose.

The conversion was simple but very effective. A wall was constructed in the centre of the old auditorium and the circle, which in fact was a stadium or raised section, became number two. A new box was constructed on the old stage and shot the picture on to the new dividing wall, under a new false ceiling. A new toilet block was erected in what was the back of the old stalls, the top of which forms the stage in number two. The toilets were a major factor in deciding to convert. Before the twinning the Ladies had been one cubicle and the Gents had been outside. The Gents became the new boiler room. Number One theatre opened in May with the Robert Powell film The Thirty Nine Steps.

The twinning is what saved the Picture House from almost certain closure. At once admissions began to rise and all was well. The cinema was then refurbished again in 1989, when the foyer was extended and the cinema had brand new seats for the first time and was completely re carpeted. Computerised ticketing was also introduced. Again the transformation in business was startling. Dolby Stereo was installed in 1992 and a constant updating of equipment has continued to this day. Dolby SR was installed in number one for Jurassic Park in 1993 and number two had the same installed in 1994.

Dolby Digital was installed in 1998 and DTS appeared in the number two theatre in 1999.

Sadly, Roy Markwick died in 1994 and his son Kevin now runs the family business.

The construction of a third screen began on September 1^st 1999, when the back of the building containing the old stage and the existing box for the number one theatre was demolished. Over the next six months large excavations were carried out to get the new theatre in at right angles to the building and underneath the new box for number one.

The new cinema opened on Feb 11th 2000 with a performance of The Beach. Further technical improvements are being made all the time, for a better view of those have a look at our tech page.

Acknowledgement: Thank you to Richard Grey of the CTA for information contained in the early part of this article.