Rare surviving Second World War ruin to be turned into memorial to civilians

CAMPAIGNERS HAVE expressed delight after a Yorkshire council acquired the ruins of the only blitzed civilian building left standing in England.

The announcement follows a 20-year battle to save the ruins of the derelict National Picture Theatre in Beverley Road, Hull, which was bombed in 1941, just as an audience was about to watch Charlie Chaplin’s

The remains were given a Grade II listing in 2007, and have been described as of “iconic importance”. The move came after Hull Council agreed a landswap deal with the owner during negotiations over a compulsory purchase order.

Campaigners say they will now work with the council to secure funding for repairs and ultimately to turn the building into a memorial and educational resource.

Hilary Byers, the treasurer of the National Civilian World War Two Memorial Trust, said the first job was to make the ruins safe for people to go inside.

She added: “We feel there are many memorials that talk about the military but not many that remember the role that civilians played – not just those who died but the WRVS, the firefighters and the air-raid wardens.”

A Hull Council spokesman added: “This building is one of the country’s last remaining ruins from the Second World War and is of national significance.

“We are working with the trust to look at opening up the building with interpretation of what happened during its bombing.”