(This article is about the current London theatre. For the original 17th-century namesake, see Cockpit Theatre.) The Cockpit Theatre is a fringe theatre in Marylebone, London. Designed by Edward Mendelsohn and built in 1969-70 by the Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) as a community theatre, it is notable as London's first purpose-built Theatre in the round since the Great Fire of London. When ILEA was disbanded in 1990, ownership of the Cockpit was transferred to the London Borough of Westminster, who made it part of the newly renamed City of Westminster College. It remains one of a handful of purpose-built theatre training venues in the capital and is still owned and operated by the City Of Westminster College.