Across the road from the War Memorial you will find a Turkish restaurant called “Pera Palace” nestled directly in the centre of a row of shop-fronts.
This row of shops (4-10 Market Hill) is Grade II Listed. The entrance to “Pera Palace” takes you up a flight of stairs and into a spacious first-floor restaurant behind the shops. This restaurant used to be the “Palace Ballroom”.
The Palace Ballroom building was a thriving Corn Exchange in the middle of the 19th century. In 1910 it was converted into the 400-seat Picture Palace cinema. The cinema was then transformed into a ballroom in 1937. It had the first properly sprung floor in the country.
Photographs: now and then
Pera Palace in the former Palace Ballroom. Photo: Lawrence Weetman 
The Palace Ballroom. Photo: Chatteris Community Archive 
Pera Palace entrance. Photo: Lawrence Weetman 
Pera Palace interior. Photo: Lawrence Weetman 
Dancers at The Palace Ballroom. Photo: Chatteris Community Archive / Chatteris Museum
Where is it?
Location and directions: Google Maps
Find out more
- The Palace Ballroom on Google Streetview
- The Palace Ballroom on the Chatteris Community Archive
- 4, 6, 8 and 10 Market Hill on the Historic England register of listed buildings
Taking a digital tour of Chatteris?
If you’re taking a Digital Tour of Chatteris, look for The Cross Keys Inn to the right of the former Palace Ballroom.