Maindy and Eastern Workmen's Institute (Phoenix Theatre)

The miners' institute of Ton Pentre in the Rhondda, opened in September 1895 on the subscriptions of the Maindy and Eastern collieries' workmen, with a theatre hall added in 1904 that showed films from 1908. After years as a cinema and a bingo hall it reopened in 1991 as the Phoenix, a community theatre and cinema in a Grade II listed building.

The mining history in this record

The Maindy and Eastern Workmen's Institute was built on Church Road, Ton Pentre, beside the Crawshay Bailey estate office, from subscriptions paid by the workmen of the Maindy and Eastern collieries, and at first carried both pits' names. It opened in September 1895 with a library, news room, refreshment room and committee room.

In 1904 a theatre hall designed by Jacob Hall was added, with stalls and a circle seating about 630. From 1908 the hall was let to a private company to show silent films, and in 1931 it was equipped for talkies. Renamed the Ton Pentre Workmen's Hall and Institute, it declined after the Second World War as the local pits closed and the miners' contributions fell away; it was a cinema until 1971 and then a bingo hall until 1989.

People

Jacob Hall, architect of the 1904 hall.

Legacy today

Derelict for two years after the bingo hall closed, the building reopened in 1991 as the Phoenix, a community arts centre, cinema and theatre, on the corner of Church Road and Pryce Street. It is a Grade II listed building.

Recorded claims

Individual factual claims, each tagged with how solidly it's grounded and attached to the source(s) that support it. Where sources disagree, both are kept.

• The institute was built in 1895 from subscriptions from the Maindy and Eastern collieries and first took the names of both pits. (documented fact) ^1,2,3
• A theatre hall designed by Jacob Hall was added in 1904. (documented fact) ^1,2
• Silent films were shown from 1908, talkies from 1931, and the hall was a cinema until 1971, then a bingo hall until 1989. (documented fact) ^1,2
• It reopened as the Phoenix in 1991 and is a Grade II listed building. (documented fact) ^1,3

Mines

• Eastern Colliery — Rhondda Cynon Taf
  Built in 1895 from the subscriptions of the Eastern Colliery workmen, with those of the Maindy, and named after both pits.
• Maindy Colliery — Rhondda Cynon Taf
  Built in 1895 from the subscriptions of the Maindy Colliery workmen, with those of the Eastern, and named after both pits.

Sources

1. (secondary) Ton Pentre — Wikipedia
2. (secondary) Phoenix Centre in Ton Pentre — Cinema Treasures
3. (observational) Grade II listed Phoenix Theatre, Ton Pentre (Geograph 2678969) — Geograph

Record created: 1 October 2026 · Last researched: 4 October 2026