A Dorset woman with a passion for beautiful old buildings has saved the world’s oldest music hall from demolition.

Judith Bowers has successfully led a campaign to bring the Britannia Panopticon Music Hall in Glasgow back to life and has written a book about the building.

The theatre is rich in history – comic actor Stan Laurel made his debut there and Hollywood legend Cary Grant also appeared on the Britannia’s stage in his former guise as Archie Leach.

Former archaeologist Judith fell in love with the old theatre – which dates back to the late 1850s – when she moved to Scotland and was renting a unit nearby.

She first came across The Trongate – the street the theatre is on – in 1990. At the time there was a leather shop beneath it.

Judith said: “I kept on walking past every day and wondering how I could get into the building.

“This was obviously a building of historical as well as architectural interest. The first floor department of the Leather Club had once been the stalls of the music hall. The theatre was hidden behind a ceiling.”

Once the building’s owner had let Judith see inside she decided to set up The Britannia Panopticon Music Hall Trust to raise awareness of the building.

She began the painstakingly long process of filling out forms to apply for grants for the Britannia’s preservation.

Judith said: “I knew nothing about music halls at all. I was always interested in the gossipy side of it. The seedy world of the music hall transfixed me.

“It was all very bawdy and acts would get stones chucked at them if they weren’t good enough. As they said: ‘no turn was left unstoned’.

“The biggest challenge I faced in trying to make this happen was dealing with the owners of the music hall.

“I used my contacts in journalism to attract interest in the story.”

Judith researched all the performers who played at the Britannia, including Dr Walford Bodie, who would electrocute himself in the name of entertainment, and the cockney singer Charles Coburn, who was associated with the infamous murderer Dr Crippen.

As interest gained momentum, for the first time in more than 60 years audiences started flooded in to see shows put on by volunteers, who performed some of the old music hall songs.

Judith even joined in herself – playing the juvenile lead, Florrie Bow Wow Bowers. Last year the Britannia hosted 62 events and was featured in a BBC4 documentary on music halls, the Antiques Road Trip, Alan Cummings’ series for Sky Atlantic ‘Urban Secrets’, while rock and pop bands including Belle & Sebastian and Glasvegas used the auditorium for photo and video shoots.

The team of volunteers, the Friends of the Britannia Panopticon, make it possible for the building to be open as a museum of music hall Thursdays to Saturdays during the summer.

The Britannia is now open on a regular basis for music hall shows, Laurel and Hardy film nights, Burlesque shows, stand-up comedy and dramatic pieces like The Whitechapel Murders.

Among the items found in the building are old cigarette packets, whelk shells, a clay pipe stem, a couple of fly buttons and bon-bon wrappers. Further excavations revealed babies’ rattles and teething rings, newspapers from the 1920s, brooches and tram tickets.

The music hall was also used as a zoo and a waxwork museum.

Former All Saints schoolgirl Judith, who calls Glasgow home but still frequently visits family in Weymouth, said: “It’s strange how I ended up doing this.

“I never walked into The Britannia intending to run a conservation project.

“I fell in love with the building. Every time I’ve thought I’m not getting anywhere something has happened – there’s always been some kind of sign; the building has presented me with a new artefact.

“I think my love of buildings like this was in me from a young age. When I was little my favourite days out were going to stately homes.

“If we hadn’t started the campaign the Britannia wouldn’t be there at all. The family who owned it would have demolished the building because of the state of the roof.

“Some people don’t regard bricks and mortar as important but this building is such an important part of our heritage.”

The next stage of fundraising for the Britannia Panopticon Music Hall Trust is to rescue the theatre’s historic stage by raising it. It is currently buried beneath a 1960s toilet and theatre supporters are being asked to sponsor a plank to raise the £20,000 necessary for that stage of the works.

Judith is currently writing a children’s book called ‘The Magic Lantern’, a historical action adventure story based on the theatre. She has also written Glasgow’s Lost Theatre – The Story of The Britannia Music Hall.

  • See britanniapanopticon.org for more information