In 1913, the Opera House hosted a series of charity fundraising concerts gather funds to rebuild the Nevill Ground's cricket pavilion after the original pavilion was destroyed in a suffragette arson attack.

The bomb did not explode but instead got caught in the proscenium arch above the stage and set fire to the inside of the Opera House, leading to a renovation before eventual re-opening in 1949.

[5][6] In November 1966, the Opera House was granted Grade II listed status.

[7] More recently there have been annual performances by Kent-based ‘The Merry Opera Company’ with Troy Boy, La traviata, The Magic Flute, Kiss Me, Figaro!,[8] The Barber of Seville, and in 2016, La Boheme.

[2] The dome originally had a nude statue of Mercury on the top, which was removed in the 1920s, either because it was unstable in poor weather or was viewed as sinful by local residents.