Where did Shakespeare really belong? Stratford-upon-Avon draws in millions of tourists annually as the playwright’s birthplace and burial site, yet a new finding suggests Shakespeare spent a lot more of his later life down south than we originally thought.
For the first time, scholars can pinpoint the exact spot of Shakespeare’s only London home. An unknown floor plan, found by a professor at King’s College London, indicates the playwright’s residence has been hiding in plain sight all along, on a quiet street not far from the contemporary location of the Globe.
Your average historian can tell you the playwright bought a property near the Blackfriars Theatre, and likely called it home for some time. However, an inscription on a City of London plaque only states he had a home ‘near this site.’ Professor Lucy Monro’s discovery is much more precise: she has found the exact location, size, and layout of the flat Shakespeare bought in 1613.
Monro was conducting research at The London Archives and The National Archives when she came across an unfamiliar map. It turned out to be a detailed floor plan of Shakespeare’s L-shaped home, which had been converted from a medieval monastery. It also revealed the kind of buildings that would have been nearby – and many are still there today.
The property would have spanned Bergon Street and Ireland Yard, stretching round onto St Andrew’s Hill, brushing shoulders with his playhouse and The Sign of the Cock tavern (now The Cockpit). After a long day of work fit for a literary legend, did Shakespeare ever nip out for a quick afternoon pint? He’s one of us, sort of.
Following his death in 1616, Shakespeare’s London home is believed to have been sold in 1665 by his daughter. The Great Fire of London consumed the property just a year later. So, while you can’t step inside the 17th-century building Shakespeare once called home, the ground it stood on remains.
St Andrew’s Hill is just a 10-minute walk from Blackfriars station, so stroll down Queen Victoria Street, take in the converted friary buildings that Shakespeare himself would’ve looked out onto, and stop off for a quick drink in The Cockpit. Four hundred years won’t feel all that long ago.
Did you see that London’s Barbican has just opened a free exhibition all about 1996?
Plus: this free London art festival is massively expanding this summer – it’ll take over a whole borough.
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