Westbury Museum Column: The Vista Cinema

When fire engulfed a building in Warminster Road in 1988, it took away a piece of popular Westbury history. 

Many people living in the town today might not realise we once had a much-loved cinema. But in its day, the Vista was a star attraction showing two films each week and even being one of the first cinemas in Wiltshire to show talkies! 

And many older people have happy memories of Saturday morning pictures, pantomimes, theatre shows, bingo nights and even wrestling matches – all held at this extraordinary building. 

The cinema which opened in 1920 already had an unusual history before it came to Westbury – it had started life as the camp cinema for Australian and New Zealand troops stationed at Sutton Veny camp in the First World War. 

Local businessman Charles Rowe with his partner Stanley Bousfield purchased the building and a piece of land opposite Bella Vista house on Warminster Road. The name of the cinema pays tribute to its siting on what used to be gardens of the house. 

The building was re-erected with a brick façade added later complete with offices and a reception area. Shops were either side of the frontage. Millowner William Laverton performed the official opening in April 1920, confessing to the crowded hall that it was the very first time he had ever been in a cinema. 

The programme started with a showing of Mary Pickford in Daddy Longlegs. The 1930s was the golden age of the silver screen and films shown here in Westbury featured famous names like Charlie Chaplin. 

Silent films had musical accompaniment by a local pianist while coconut shells and chains produced the sound effects for the silent version of Ben Hur’s famous chariot race. 

The cinema wasn’t just for films – there were live theatre productions, concerts, pantomimes and even a hypnotist. The town’s carnival queens were crowned here and children enjoyed regular Saturday morning films. In October 1953, the popular BBC Any Questions was broadcast from the Vista. 

But Mr Rowe eventually retired and in October 1958, the Vista was advertised for sale. By the 1960s, the then owner Raymond Franklin was holding popular bingo sessions at the Vista and declaring that television was luring audiences from the cinema. 

Franklin, dubbed Mr Sex by the media, went on to make the cinema a venue for viewing films far from the family friendly original showings. 

In April 1988, the Vista was destroyed by fire – possibly by a discarded cigarette. The flames could be seen from as far away as The Ham. 

Today the site is occupied by Vista Court – a development of almshouses for the Laverton Almshouse Trust, providing low-cost homes for local people. 

Westbury Museum has been very fortunate in being given cinema programmes dating from the Vista’s golden years. Pop into the museum and get a glimpse of what you might have watched in the 1930s! 

Westbury Museum is on the first floor of the town library and entry is free. Find out more at www.westburyheritagesociety.org.uk.