Historic building survey by Dr E Oakley for AAL (Allen Archaeology Ltd) revealed an L-shaped block of one- and two-storey brick buildings, with four broad phases of development identified. The earliest component represented buildings established c 1868 as part of the Filmer and Mason Ironworks. By 1881 the site was known as Church Acre ironworks and a number of small extensions were added in the period 1881–96. The ironworks ceased operation in the 1920s and the site was later occupied by the army. From the 1930s onwards, extensions to the ironworks were demolished in the northern part of the building complex, and replaced by a range of two-storey brick buildings. These buildings previously extended beyond the western site boundary but the range was reduced in length after 1963 to their present form. In the late 1970s a local theatre group took over, which gave the site its name. Since the early 1980s the buildings have been used by Guildford School of Acting and the interiors of the buildings adapted to fit this purpose with the result that very few earlier features have survived.