There are public car parks nearby at Port Vale, Hartham Common and Hertford North Station. There is no dedicated parking for the theatre itself, and we are no longer able to offer parking facilities at Millmead School on production nights as we have done in the past. You may park on the streets around the theatre, but please be mindful of residents’ access, and note that you might need to allow extra time to find a space.

In 1972, CoPs purchased the whole plot of land now know as Christchurch Place. Formerly the site of Christ Church, the land included the building previously used as a school. The funds needed to convert the building from a Victorian schoolroom to a community theatre were raised through the sale of the adjacent land, on which five houses were subsequently built. The theatre was well established and conversion permission granted before the houses in Christchurch Place were built.

Access to the theatre building is now, and has been since the houses were built, via two routes:

• Steps from Balfour Street
• A pedestrian path from Port Vale

The path runs along the front of the houses and, while each property owns the section of path running through their respective gardens, each of the households, and the theatre and its users share a right of access along the whole path. This agreement was drawn up when the land was sold.

Neither of the two access routes have ever been officially designated as the primary entrance to the theatre site, though planning correspondence from the Council in the mid-90s referred to the path through Christchurch Place as the main approach to the theatre. Users of the building continue to be free to use whichever entrance best suits their route and needs, and signs in the theatre clearly direct users to consider our local residents when leaving the building.

When postcodes were first introduced, the Little Theatre was allocated two different postcodes and both have been in use ever since. Licensing and other official Council correspondence has been addressed to the Christchurch Place address for more than a decade. The Christchurch Place postcode (SG14 3BB) displays the Theatre’s location most accurately on the majority of mapping tools, so this is more commonly used in publicity. It is also the postcode preferred by Royal Mail due to their delivery routes.

In November 2022, CoPs was granted planning permissions for a single storey extension to provide an enlarged foyer, new and improved sanitary accommodation, additional backstage facilities and improved access and facilities for disabled persons. However, since the project was first conceived, the national funding environment has changed dramatically and, despite the very considerable efforts of our management committee and other volunteers, we have been unable to secure the kind of large government grant that would have been required to make the project viable. The planning permission has therefore had to be allowed to lapse.

The money contributed by our many generous supporters remain entirely ring-fenced for development of the building, and we have now begun a process of reviewing what can realistically be achieved with those funds and our likely future fundraising efforts. The work undertaken so far has by no means been in vain – our understanding of our building, its site, its limitations and its possibilities has been greatly enhanced by the process. Our focus will now shift to smaller, more achievable improvements that will still enhance the comfort, accessibility, and sustainability of our Little Theatre and it remains a priority for us to provide an accessible front of house toilet and to expand the foyer, if possible. We welcome your input on your key priorities too – this is your theatre and we want it to meet everyone’s needs as best it can. Email us at info@cops.org.uk to share your views.

Unfortunately, we are not available for hire at this time.