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Princes Hall

theatre in Aldershot, England

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 30, 2026
Entity authorityQ7244448
Source-derived summary

The Princes Hall in Aldershot, England is a 600-seat theatre / receiving house which presents a varied programme of music, ballet, comedy, pantomime.

An additional three function rooms named the Princes Suite, the Edinburgh Suite and the Tichborne Suite (after the prominent Aldershot family) are available for hire for conference, parties and weddings. The Theatre is owned and managed by Rushmoor Borough Council.

The Princes Hall also hosted a vaccination centre during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Princes Hall was awarded the Devereux Cup in 2008 for its contribution to the arts.

The Princes Hall website www.princeshall.com won Best Recreation or Tourism Website at the 2008 Hantsweb Awards

Background

Commissioned by Rushmoor Borough Council as a civic hall after the demolition of the town's Theatre Royal in 1959 and the Hippodrome theatre in 1961, the Princes Hall was built on the site of the old Warburg Barracks and was designed by Building Design Partnership. It opened in November 1972 with a gala concert by Kenny Ball and the Jazzmen and was named for HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh who officially opened the centre on 22 May 1973 and who said: "I'm sure this centre will be a tremendous success. I can’t help feeling that you should all jump up and start dancing. In case there are any doubts – the place is now open".

Entertainers and personalities who have appeared at the Princes Hall include Gene Pitney, Ivor Emmanuel, Billy Fury, Marty Wilde, Heinz, New World, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, Bobby Crush, Charles Hawtrey, Kenny Ball, Tommy Trinder, Bobby Davro, Syd Lawrence, Geno Washington, Jools Holland, Jane McDonald, Anna Karen, Joe Brown, Harry Corbett and Matthew Corbett in the Sooty Show, Little and Large, The Krankies, Val Doonican, Barbara Dickson, Danny La Rue, Lenny Henry, Dan Snow, Norman Wisdom, Des O'Connor, Alvin Stardust, The Hollies, Joan Armatrading and Katherine Jenkins.

Editorial summary

“Princes Hall” enters the record as theatre in Aldershot, England. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Princes, Hall and theatre can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewBest approached as a cultural-object dossier: authorship and date matter, but circulation and reception often explain the wider significance. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2008, 1959, 1961, 1972—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1972. Its strongest next move is a source search built around Princes, Hall and theatre.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“Princes Hall” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Princes, Hall and theatre provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 30, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7244448. Authority coordinates are 51.251, -0.768. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2008, 1959, 1961 and 1972.

Critical limits

Titles can refer to several editions, objects or performances, making precise identification essential before interpretation. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Princes Hall”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Princes Hall primary sources, Princes Hall archive and Princes research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Princes Hall”?
  2. How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
  3. Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Princes Hall” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.