Bouchier Brothers & Arcade Cinema

43 Eastover, 1891-1963

The grand Bouchier Brothers shop and warehouse at 43 Eastover was built in 1891 to the designs of Basil Cottam. The architectural drawings can be seen in the Somerset Heritage Centre, A\CMY/169 (for notes on the collection, see here). The style can perhaps best be described as ‘commercial gothic‘, with its pointed lancet-style windows on the second foor. This was only a branch of the Bouchier’s business in Bridgwater: their head office was in St Mary Street.

In 1929 the building was taken over and converted into the ‘Arcade Cinema’, and was still in use in 1955. See our page on Entertainment for some details of its use at this time.

The building and the adjoining properties. were demolished in 1963 for a retail and housing development.

The building in about 1905.
The Boucheir Brother’s Shop in about 1950. The great first floor glass wall and balcony seems to have been in-filled by this time.
Advertisements for the St Mary Street shop of Bouchier Brothers and offices, dating to about 1910.
The Head Office in St Mary Street was gutted by fire in September 1935. All the furniture stock was lost, and all that remained of the building was a ruined shell.