Benjamin Britten village of Snape, six miles inland, became available for hire, Britten realised that the largest of them could be converted into a concert hall and opera house. The 830-seat Snape Maltings hall was opened by the Queen at the start of the twentieth Aldeburgh Festival on 2 June 1967; it was immediately hailed as one of the best concert halls in the country. The hall was destroyed by fire in 1969, but Britten was determined that it would be rebuilt in time for the following year's festival, which it was. The Queen again attended the opening performance in 1970. The
Martin Snape Martin Snape Martin Snape (31 December 1852 – 24 November 1930) was an English painter of the Victorian and Edwardian era. Bron in Gosport in 1852, Snape worked in a variety of media (oils, watercolours, engraving, etc.). He concentrated mainly on topographical subjects including landscapes from the Meon Valley, and shore and maritime scenes around Portsmouth Harbour and his home town of Gosport. He exhibited at the Royal Academy between 1874 and 1901. Living in Spring Garden Lane, near Gosport railway station, Snape was associated with the Gosport area all his life. In 1922 he was commissioned to design the