Details from its heyday as a grand 1940s cinema were everywhere to see – from the ‘Now Showing’ sign, to stills and posters from old black and white movies, and gilded decor.
The red-neon Coronet sign on the outside harked back to the Holloway Road landmark’s past life – before it became a Wetherspoons.
But it didn’t originally go by that name. The building opened in February 1940 as the Savoy Cinema and was designed by architect William R. Glen in modern Art Deco style for Associated British Cinemas (ABC).
Although the Second World War and the London Blitz had just started, it was allowed to open as planned and was later renamed the ABC in 1962 and finally the Coronet in 1979.
That coincided with a rise in TV and home video and a decline in cinema-going and the final film was screened there in 1983.
The grand old picture house closed – then became a snooker hall for a few years before being opened as a ‘Spoons in the mid-90s.
The pub chain made an effort made to restore the beautiful original features of the old cinema and it remained a characterful – if huge – boozer.
It is close to Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium and was visited by fans on matchdays.
In 2023 Wetherspoons put it up for sale and closed the doors in December that year. It was bought by DN Property London for an undisclosed sum as part of a 30 pub package that included The Toll Gate in Turnpike Lane.
Under a new tenant The Toll Gate TPL Limited there were live football screenings, DJs, and in April 2025 a successful application to Islington Council to vary the licence to allow boxing, wrestling and MMA bouts.
But, as the Ham&High reported, a notice posted on the door of The Coronet in February gave warning of a lease forfeiture to The Toll Gate TPL Limited.
Bailiffs acting on behalf of DN Property London changed the locks and seized possession of the former Art Deco cinema.
Manager Saeed Farsi later blamed rising rents for the closure of The Coronet, and last month this much-loved building still had the shutters down with graffiti daubed on the walls.