{"id":944511,"date":"2026-05-07T20:22:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T20:22:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/944511\/"},"modified":"2026-05-07T20:22:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T20:22:16","slug":"historic-oxford-cinema-under-threat-as-oriel-college-refuses-to-extend-lease-heritage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/944511\/","title":{"rendered":"Historic Oxford cinema under threat as Oriel College refuses to extend lease | Heritage"},"content":{"rendered":"

The survival of one of the UK\u2019s oldest independent cinemas is under threat while its landlord, the University of Oxford\u2019s Oriel College, refuses to extend its lease to allow what its director says are vital renovations.<\/p>\n

The Ultimate Picture Palace<\/a> in east Oxford opened in 1911, and has entertained generations of students and residents, including the Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes. It sells tickets for its 106 seats through an old-fashioned box office window to patrons queueing on the street, and its screen is behind a manually opened curtain.<\/p>\n

After decades of instability, the UPP, as it is known by locals, recently became a community-owned business when more than 1,200 supporters raised funds to keep the cinema operating in the Grade II-listed building.<\/p>\n

But plans to secure its long-term future have been dashed by Oriel College\u2019s reluctance to approve an extension that would allow further investments and renovations to take place.<\/p>\n

A campaign and petition to save the UPP has gathered 22,000 signatures. Photograph: Andy Hall\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

Micaela Tuckwell, the UPP\u2019s executive director, said grants were available to improve the cinema\u2019s energy efficiency and accessibility. The cinema\u2019s operating costs have increased 25% over the last four years and it remains on a financial knife-edge. But the improvements cannot go ahead without Oriel agreeing to extend the current lease past 2037, which Tuckwell says is \u201ca really big emergency\u201d.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Oriel College said: \u201cThis lease was agreed recently in 2022 with a new registered society. We have no plans to amend the lease at this early stage in the tenancy \u2026 We continue to be in dialogue with the new managers about how to ensure the cinema remains open to the wider public.\u201d<\/p>\n

The college already owns a number of properties in east Oxford<\/a>, including those surrounding the UPP, and is said to be looking at expanding further, reflecting a wider trend of \u201cstudentification\u201d opposed by many locals, such as the pending demolition of a popular local cafe by the university.<\/p>\n

Imo, a local resident, said: \u201cEvery closure from the university\u2019s encroachment has a scarring effect \u2013 if this trend continues there will be no space for locals to do things on their own terms.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oriel\u2019s provost, Neil Mendoza, also chairs Historic England, the public body tasked with championing the country\u2019s historic environment and buildings.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Historic England said: \u201cWe know cultural institutions, including cinemas, are important to local communities and can help to sustain our high streets and town centres. Businesses offering cultural experiences, through art, theatre, cinema, music, are often attracted to historic sites because these places really resonate with local people.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe aim for historic buildings to be kept in use so they can continue to be anchors for communities and loved for longer.\u201d<\/p>\n

A campaign and petition<\/a> to save the UPP has gathered 22,000 signatures while the MP for Oxford East, Anneliese Dodds, last month raised the UPP\u2019s future in parliament. Dodds told the Guardian: \u201cI have discussed this matter with Neil Mendoza and he has said he wants to work with the UPP. I really hope that can happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

The UPP is known for alternative and artistic programming, with foreign language films accounting for more than a fifth of ticket sales. Photograph: Andy Hall\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

In March, Mendoza and Oxford University\u2019s vice-chancellor, Irene Tracey, attended a special \u201cSave the UPP\u201d screening of Hamnet hosted at the cinema by Dame Pippa Harris, the film\u2019s Oscar-nominated producer.<\/p>\n

Malcolm Atkins, a 69-year-old local artist, said he has been a regular at the UPP since the 1970s. \u201cAll the films I still love best I saw there \u2013 A Touch of Zen, Celine and Julie Go Boating \u2026 the cinema was so good for long, meditative films, and I haven\u2019t experienced cinematic wonder comparable since,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The UPP is still known for alternative and artistic programming, with foreign language films accounting for more than a fifth of ticket sales and a similar proportion for classic or repertory features. Despite the post-pandemic fall-off in national audiences, the UPP said its ticket sales were up 20%, with a quarter of its sales to under-25s.<\/p>\n

Kit Finnie, the UPP\u2019s lead projectionist, says the organisation does a lot to battle social isolation, with a two-year waiting list to volunteer and collaboration with local charities such as Asylum Welcome.<\/p>\n

Finnie said: \u201cThis is a really safe and consistent interaction: coming here, feeling OK that you\u2019re by yourself, and sitting with a tea or coffee to interact with a piece of art. This is the only affordable way to have that interaction.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The survival of one of the UK\u2019s oldest independent cinemas is under threat while its landlord, the University…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":944512,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[77,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-944511","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-uk","10":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116535161594705696","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/944511","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=944511"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/944511\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/944512"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=944511"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=944511"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=944511"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}