Devizes Angel Bingo – Market Place

Angel Bingo was an oddity: a bingo club that shared a building with a working cinema. The site opened in 1912 as the Picture Palace with 417 seats, then became the Electric Palace after a late-1920s enlargement took it to around 900. It stood prominently in the Market Place and picked up an Art Deco look along the way. In 1975 Zetters acquired it and converted the stalls into a bingo club, keeping a 253-seat cinema in the former circle. The result was bingo downstairs and films upstairs, and a photo from October 2014 shows signs inside the entrance still pointing left for bingo and right for the pictures. The bingo side was run first by Miles Byrne, who stayed involved until his death in 1986, then by Steven Wischusen until 1992. The cinema later joined the small Robins Cinemas circuit, and the independent Angel Leisure eventually gave the club its Angel Bingo and Social Club name.

The building closed for renovation in July 2021, and in May 2022 it was announced that the bingo had closed for good, with the old stalls earmarked to become a second cinema screen. The restored stage and fly tower are meant to host live performances too. We haven’t found a stated reason for the bingo closure beyond that redevelopment plan, or a date for the final session. The restoration has dragged on, with no firm reopening date given at a September 2024 heritage open day, and the official Palace Cinema website still said it was under renovation as of October 2026. So the bingo is gone, but the building looks set for a second life as a cinema and theatre.

Other Lost Halls In The Area

• Bath Gala Bingo – Sawclose
• Andover Mecca Bingo – Junction Road
• Bristol Club 3000 Bingo – Broadwalk Shopping Centre
• Bristol Fishponds Mecca Bingo – Fishponds Road
• Bristol Riva Bingo – Wells Road
• Bristol Mecca Bingo – Barrow Road
• Bristol Gala Bingo – North Street
• Bristol Gala Bingo – North Street
• Bristol Buzz Bingo – Hengrove Leisure Park
• Swindon Mecca Bingo – Regent Circus
• Salisbury Buzz Bingo – Endless Street

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