The Rose Playhouse, located at fifty-six Park Street, survives today as a foundation of chalk and brick preserved beneath the modern Rose Court office building. Built in fifteen eighty-seven by entrepreneur Philip Henslowe, it was the…
Southwark Outlaw History
This walk follows the south bank of the Thames to find the historic liberties where London's theatres, brothels, and prisons thrived outside the jurisdiction of the City. Along the way, we'll see ruined palaces, an outcast graveyard, and historic jail sites that reveal Southwark's gritty, rebellious past.
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1. Rose Theatre Trust
2. Original site of the Globe Theatre
The site of the original Globe Theatre is marked by a plaque and information panels tucked away on Park Street, near the edge of modern Borough Market. Built in fifteen ninety-nine, the theater was the home of the Lord Chamberlain's Men,…
3. The Clink Prison Museum
The Clink Prison Museum occupies the original site of one of England's oldest prisons, which opened in eleven forty-four. It served the Liberty of the Clink, a manor area owned by the powerful Bishop of Winchester rather than the reigning…
4. Winchester Palace
The most striking feature of Winchester Palace is a high, jagged wall of Kentish ragstone on Clink Street, punctuated by the stone tracery of a fourteenth-century rose window. Built in the twelfth century by Bishop Henry de Blois, this…
5. The George Inn
The George Inn features an open, timber-framed courtyard surrounded by exterior galleries on its upper levels. This structure distinguishes it as the last surviving galleried coaching inn in London. Built in sixteen seventy-seven, the inn…
6. Crossbones Graveyard & Garden of Remembrance
Crossbones Graveyard and Garden of Remembrance on Redcross Way is marked by gates covered in a dense, colorful web of ribbons, handwritten messages, and tokens. This small site holds the remains of an estimated fifteen thousand people,…
7. Marshalsea Prison South Wall
A long, red brick wall marks the southern boundary of the former Marshalsea Prison, tucked away near the churchyard of Saint George the Martyr. This structure is the final physical remnant of a notorious institution that operated for…