The Ultimate Picture Palace
Oxford's oldest independent cinema, halfway down Cowley Road, running new releases to Sunday afternoon classics.
Oxford's oldest independent cinema, halfway down Cowley Road, running new releases to Sunday afternoon classics.
Some of our favourite evenings out from the cottage don't involve a big night at all. We drive into east Oxford, park up near Cowley Road, and spend a couple of hours in a single-screen cinema that feels like it belongs to another era. The Ultimate Picture Palace, the UPP to everyone local, first opened its doors on Jeune Street in 1911, which makes it Oxford's oldest cinema and one of the oldest purpose-built picture houses anywhere in the country. It is small, a little eccentric, and completely without pretension. You buy your ticket at the original box-office window that still opens onto the street, settle into a proper seat, and watch a film the way films were meant to be watched: in the dark, with strangers, giving it your full attention.
What we love most is that the place very nearly wasn't here at all. It opened in 1911, closed when the manager was called up in the First World War, and then sat unused for decades. It was rescued and reopened more than once across the years before settling into its current life, and in 2022 more than a thousand local people bought shares to take it into community ownership. That history is written into the building, and you can feel it the moment you walk in. There is a small bar inside the auditorium serving drinks and snacks before the film, so we tend to arrive early, get a glass of something, and settle in rather than rushing the last-minute dash you get at a multiplex.
It is about thirty-five to forty minutes from the cottage, roughly fifteen miles down towards the city, and the character of the place is the whole point. A few things we always mention to guests:
The cinema sits just off Cowley Road, which is the most interesting street in Oxford for eating, and that is half the appeal of the trip. We like to book the film, then wander for supper somewhere you wouldn't find in a guidebook. Dosa Darlings is our go-to for south Indian street food close by, and if you fancy a proper Oxford pub afterwards the historic Turf Tavern is tucked away back in the centre. It's an easy pattern: a walk, a film, something good to eat, and home to the cottage before the fire has quite gone out. If you want the fuller picture of the city, our guide to Oxford covers where to park, what to see and where to eat around it.
A word on timing, because it does take a little planning. We treat this as a proper evening out rather than something spontaneous: check the listings a day or two ahead, book while you still have a choice of seats, and give yourself enough time for the drive in and to park before the film. East Oxford has a very different feel to the college quarter that most visitors picture, and that is a large part of why we send guests here. The streets around the cinema are lined with small independent restaurants, delis and shops, and on a mild evening it's a pleasure simply to wander before the lights go down. Bring a coat for the walk back to the car, and you have the makings of one of those unhurried nights that make a stay in the country feel complete rather than cut off.
“Skip the big cinemas in town. The UPP is the real thing: one screen, a proper bar, and the kind of place where the person selling your ticket genuinely loves film.”
For opening times, the current programme and tickets, check the official site before you travel. Times and prices change, so we never quote them here.
All of this on the doorstep, and your own thatched cottage to come home to. Sleeps seven, less than a mile from Soho Farmhouse.