Regent Cinema

Built on the site of the Bow House Hotel, the iconic Grade II listed art deco cinema was built for local businessman Donald W Hardy and his father, Walter of Lyme Regis Cinema Co. in 1937. Established Bristol based cinema architect William Henry Watkins was commissioned to draw plans for a modest single screen, 305 seat cinema in a neo-classical style with a stadium-type auditorium.

The cinema opened on Monday 11 October 1937 and the first film shown was The Limping Man starring Francis L Sullivan and Hugh Wakefield.

The building remained under the ownership of Donald Hardy until 1973 when a controlling interest was purchased by the late Gordon Vearncome who owned several other cinemas. Later, Charles C W Scott acquired the cinema and it was then incorporated within the Scott Cinemas group.

Sadly the cinema was engulfed in flames following an electrical fault on Tuesday 22 March 2016 and the entire auditorium was destroyed. The building remained empty for a number of years until it was transformed into a temporary pop-up vodka espresso bar by local company Black Cow Vodka in 2023. The building is now awaiting development.