Canterbury Music Hall

Once the location of the Canterbury Music Hall and Mr Chaplin

Location: 143 Westminster Bridge Road, SE1

Description: This spot was once the location of 'Canterbury Music Hall', erected by Charles Morton in 1852 on the site of an old skittle-alley adjacent to his Canterbury Tavern. It's 700 seats were soon full every night and only 4 years later a larger theatre seating 1500 customers was built around the existing one - so as not to interrupt the flow of profits!. And lo and behold when it was finished the old building within was demolished in a single weekend!

It was once labelled probably the largest and grandest concert-room ever attached to a public house.

Well a chap called 'Charlie Chaplin', who was the the son of music hall performers - Hannah, who suffered mental illness and Charles, who left her when Charlie was three. It was here that a young Chaplin used to watch his father perform, and where he no doubt got the performance bug that led to his own legendary career.

It was at the stage door here that the lead acrobatic cyclist in the Letine troupe was fatally stabbed by the father of a child who had been ill-treated after joining the troupe a year earlier. He shot himself in the mouth but somehow recovered.

Alas the music hall was destroyed by bombing in 1942 and fully demolished by 1955.