Cornwall's Minack Theatre voted 'most beautiful' theatre in the UK - beating Shakespeare's Globe

The distinct theatre perches on the Cornish cliffs overlooking the sea.

Cornwall's historic Minack Theatre has been crowned the most beautiful theatre in the UK.

Perched on some Cornish cliffs, the Minack is a huge open-air theatre overlooking Porthcurno Bay. 

The outdoor theatre dates back to the 1930s and is host to thousands of guests and spectres throughout the summer and winter.

The iconic Cornish landmark premiered its first show on 16 August, 1932 after a local offered her cliff garden as the location for a local production of Shakespeare’s The Tempest.

The ranking follows research conducted by Premier Inn that revealed the Cornish theatre was the most beautiful in the UK.

To rank the UK's theatres by their appearance, the hotel giant used eye-tracking software to measure the average length of time people spent looking at photographs of theatres from around the country.

The longer people spent looking at a picture, the more eye-catching the theatre and therefore the most beautiful.

The theatre celebrated its 90th anniversary this year (2022).

Behind Minack in second place was Shakespeare’s Globe in London followed by the Grand Opera Theatre in Belfast in third.

Bristol's Old Vic theatre also featured on the list, coming in eighth out of the 10 most beautiful theatres in the UK.