The Pennington Family, who could trace their family tree to before the Norman Conquest, and for many centuries resided at Muncaster Castle, were responsible for the construction of the first purpose built theatre in Bootle, where apart from the Royal Alhambra Music Hall in Derby Road which closed c 1888, public entertainment had been confined to musical evenings in local hostelries, notably, the Jawbone, the Dolphin and the Palatine Hall, Miller's Bridge.

There was a pressing need for a permanent theatre and to fill this, Mr Harry Pennington prepared plans for the building to be erected on wasteland adjacent to the Muncaster Hotel.  Construction began in 1888, but due to the death of Mr Pennington in August of that year, this was suspended until the following year when it was again put in hand by his sons, James and John Pennington, and completed in 1890.  The building, considered to be one of the finest in the borough had an imposing façade, this was stone faced with two central entranceways, and an exit at the extreme ends.  The line of first floor windows was surmounted by arches, whilst the surfaces above and below these were relieved by panels and the highest point of the frontage was in the form of a gable.

The interior was stated to be as brilliantly decorated as any theatre in the city, and with superb furnishings, stage arrangements and scenery.  The auditorium was considered to be spacious, having a stage about 25ft in depth and proscenium opening 24ft wide and 20ft in height.  The house was practically divided into two parts by solid brick walls, iron doors and an iron curtain, all effective in resisting fire wherever it might occur.

The ceiling of the auditorium, which rose from picturesque pilasters and arches in the walls on either side, was divided into bays by panelled beams, all gilded, and painted in such light colours that a brilliant appearance was given, these features were described as a perfect work of art.  The front of the balcony, which had a graceful curve towards the proscenium, was decorated by panels and medallions, whilst the four private boxes on either side of the stage were handsomely decorated and with canopies overhead, not only formed tasteful architectural features, but added considerably to the elegance at either side of the stage.  The proscenium was surmounted by a richly designed pediment panel bearing the Muncaster Coat-of Arms.

The scenery was painted by Mr Sam King, the well known and eminent artist of the Star Music Hall and notable was the drop scene depicting Muncaster Castle as a reminder to the audience of the traditions of old Bootle.  From tastefully designed fittings of the ceiling and the walls a flood of light over the auditorium was shed by gaslights, as also the stage by foot and side jets.

Messrs. Pennington, the architects were praised for the designing of one of the finest buildings in the borough, and James Pennington for his supervision of the structure throughout.  It transpired, however, that they did not open the theatre themselves, but leased it to Messrs. H T Denyer and Harris Fineberg, the son of Isaac Fineberg, proprietor of the Star Music Hall.  The lessees secured for the opening, some of the best variety artists in the country, in addition to several of the most popular local celebrities.  The Grand Opening on 6th October 1890 was under the patronage and presence of His Worship the Mayor of Bootle, Alderman B Cain; the Right Honourable, the Earl of Derby, K C members of the Bootle Town Council and many other distinguished persons.  At 7.30 pm directly after the Mayor and other VIP's were seated in the boxes, the orchestra of 15 picked musicians under the direction of Mr Edward Jonghmans commenced the playing of the National Anthem, sung by the Liverpool Quartette.  Then the overture was played as the iron curtain rose to reveal inch by inch, the magnificent backdrop in old gold of Muncaster Castle.  Then came the variety performance, which was enthusiastically received by the large audience, which packed every part of the house.  Admission was at popular prices - stage boxes 10/6d to £2/2/-, orchestra stalls 2/-, centre circle 1/6d, side circle 1/-.

The Muncaster was run as a variety theatre until 1893 when Mr Denyer severed his connection, after which Messrs. Pennington took over management and instituted a change to drama for three weeks of every month with variety during the fourth week, but finding that drama was then of greater appeal to the public, they decided to present theatrical entertainment only.  But there were exceptions as for example the re-opening on 5th August 1901, following the installation of electric light, when the attraction was entitled The New Muldoon's Picnic.

This was soon followed by the introduction of a new attraction, animated pictures, as at the Hippodrome and other principal London Theatres, by the American Phono Bioscope Company.  The presentation at the Muncaster during the week commencing 16th December 1901 was the first outside the city centre and with sound by gramophone records, patrons were advised that they would see and hear the great artists of the time, include Vesta Tilley, Lil Hawthorne and Alec Hurley.  The programme also included the great spectacular production of The Seven Castles of the Devil in which over 40,000 pictures were shown, also scenes of the Boer War.  The prices for these were, 6d pit stalls, 1/- circle, and 2/- orchestra stalls.  Further exhibition of motion pictures were given in 1904/1905 by the New Century Animated Picture Co., three years prior to their opening of the Mount Pleasant Hall.  But stage plays continued to be the principal attraction, although it was not until August Bank Holiday 1907 that twice nightly drama by a stock company was inaugurated.

Stage plays ceased in 1911 when the Muncaster came under the control of a new company, of which Dave Barnard was the director of entertainment and J M Crewdson, the general manager.  They re-opened the theatre on 1st August 1911 with high-class variety, supported by the latest motion pictures.  But this short-term venture ended only one year later when the Muncaster was acquired by the highly esteemed motion picture pioneer and manager of the Sun Hall, Bootle, Mr George Prince.  A complete scheme of re-decoration was carried out and no expense spared to make it an attractive and comfortable place of entertainment.  Appropriately re-named the New Prince's Theatre, the re-opening was on 19th August 1912 when films formed the principal attraction of the performance at 8.00 pm.  By request the feature film was the sensational picture drama A Victim of the Mormons supported by the unique film The Robbery at Old Burnside Bank.  Humour in the programme was provided by 'live' entertainment on the stage with Farrow and Fiske in a vocal pot-pourri and Adken, the motoring ventriloquist.  At this time admission prices were only 3d, 4d and 6d.

The policy of films as the main attraction was not successful for very long, due to increased competition, for in addition to Sun Hall, the opening of the Picture House, Stanley Road in July 1912, was followed in October by that of the district's first purpose built cinema the Bootle Picture Palace.

By 1913 the Prince's was advertised as Bootle's now recognised variety theatre with George Prince's pictures and continued with principally 'live' entertainment until 1921 when George Prince relinquished control.  The theatre then became an addition to the Bedford cinema circuit, which controlled several cinemas in the Merseyside area and were in a position to secure early bookings of the best films.  Sparing no expense or artistic skill, the auditorium was completely re-styled for its new lease of life as a cinema to the plans of Liverpool architect, Mr A E Shennan.  The old theatre boxes and the circle were demolished in the conversion to a 750-seat stadium-type auditorium, all the seats being on the ground floor.  These were of the tip-up type and handsomely upholstered on the floor covered by carpet, a new electric light installation was carried out, also a new heating system and with the latest and best type of projection equipment, it was the aim of the new proprietors to show the clearest pictures in Bootle.

The new enterprise opened as the Strand Cinema on 19th September 1921 with continuous performances from 6.30 pm to 10.30 pm, at popular prices of 5d, 9d and 1/-.  Press advertisements were worded - "What is the Picture?  Come and see, be surprised and delighted!"

The Strand survived as a cinema for nearly 30 years, with two changes of proprietor, the first in 1928, when together with many other Merseyside cinemas, it came under the control of Gaumont British.  After closure by that company in 1941 the Strand was re-opened on 3rd October by the independent company of W J Speakman, whose leading cinema was the Capitol, Edge Hill.  Finally closing as a cinema in the late 1940's, the building was later used as a warehouse by Cork Industries Ltd., until destruction by fire on the Sunday evening of 26th July 1964.