The Winter Gardens started life in 1878 as the People's Palace which included baths, entertainment and an aquarium.

The baths were located on a site where the current theatre now stands; remnants of which can still be found in the basement.

The People's Palace had a long ornate glazed roof, similar to what would be found at some grand railway terminal.  This was later slated of due to problems with the internal hothouse temperatures!

This building eventually became a ballroom and an was more than doubled in size with the addition on the Victoria Pavillion.  Some time before this it became known as the Winter Gardens.  The two were referred to as the Victoria Pavillion and the Oriental Ballroom.  After the death of Queen Victoria the buildings were renamed the Kings Pavillion & the Empress Ballroom.

The Two buildings retained their semicircular windows for some time, in the case of the ballroom it was the last remnant of the glazed roof.  It is not know when they were filled in but the ballroom first.  The theatre retained its up until at least the 1930s.

Notice the unusual spelling in the word 'Pavillion'  This spelling is shown one the floor of the foyer as a mosaic.  The tale goes that an Italian was brought in to do the mosaic.  At least two explanations are known.

1) He had problems understanding English.
2) Same as above but someone scribbled the words Victoria Pavilion down wrong and he did it like that assuming it to be correct.

Whatever the explanation, the mosaic was completed with the misspelling.  It does however add a uniqueness about the building!

In about 1908 a glazed veranda was erected across most of the front of the two buildings, though it stopped just short of the left theatre's tower.

The Winter Gardens were very popular throughout the 20th century and in the 1930s they were extensively refurbished.  This also lead to the covering of the front of the complex with an oily white paint.  Although it made them stand out it unfortunately meant the terra cotta facade of the theatre was now hidden from view.

In the 1950s the complex was taken over by Moss Empires and was successful for some time.  Decline set in in the late 1960s70s.  It was around this time that the building lost its glazed canopy across the front.

The whole complex closed in 1977 and later it was declared a listed building.  Unfortunately the latter did not prevent the unfortunate fate of the Ballroom.  In 1982 it was raised to the ground and a new amusement arcade erected on the site; this lead the theatre to stand alone.  Around this time the peeling white paint was removed from the theatre, but it would not be properly restored externally until the 1990s.

In the mid 1990s the theatre was taken over by a company called Barnfield Construction and restored by the Buildings at Risk Trust.  This was to be part of a two phase restoration.

Phase 1, which was completed, was to include the restoration of the outside, a new room, a new glazed canopy and restoration of the Victorian shops and the distinct semicircular window.

Phase 2 would have concentrated on the inside but this was not put into action.  There was a lot of controversy about what the end use should be for the building.  The Friends of the Winter Gardens wanted it to retain the use of a theatre but Lancaster City Council's plan was for it to house a National Museum of Comedy.  The latter was quite an ambition project but the problem was that had it gone ahead, it would only have left a 300 seat studio theatre.

In the end nothing was done and the building left standing for years.  It was only in the last few years that the Friends of the Winter Gardens were able to purchase the building.  Now, plans are afoot to apply for £12 million in funding to restore the theatre as a multipurpose entertainment venue but still retaining a large theatre use within.

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