Make sure
that you are standing at position (12) on the map.
The Blackfriars Gatehouse
There is a record that
Shakespeare owned the Blackfriars gatehouse in 1613, three years before he died in Stratford upon Avon. He left it to his
daughter Susanna. The gatehouse stood
where the Cockpit inn now stands. This gatehouse was near the Blackfriars
Theatre where the Kings Men put on Shakespeare’s plays at about the same period
as they put them on at the Globe.
Go past the
Cockpit Pub into Ireland Yard. Continue into Playhouse Yard (marked 8 on the map).
The Blackfriars Theatre
Make sure that you are standing at position (14) on the map.
Make sure that you are standing at position (14) on the map.
There were two Blackfriars Theatres on
this site, in 1576-84 and in 1596-1642. The earlier theatre being used by boy companies of actors. The only
thing that identifies this now is the name “Playhouse Yard”.
The reason that a building here could be used as a theatre was that it was on the site of the old Blackfriars monastery, previously taken and sold off by Henry VIII. Because of this, the parish of St Ann Blackfriars was a Liberty (a place out of the control of the City and the City guilds). The church is no longer there, but if you look up Church Entry (off Ireland Yard) you can still see gravestones from St Ann's churchyard (13 on the map).
James Burbage bought and fitted out a hall in the Blackfriars buildings as a theatre in about 1596. The Blackfriars was an indoor theatre, so it could be used in the winter. It was candle lit, and was very likely similar to the Sam Wanamaker theatre, which is part of the new Globe complex. However, the Lord Chamberlain's Men (the company that Shakespeare was part of) found that there was public resistance to an adult company using this Blackfriars Theatre. In a letter to the Privy Council, a group of local residents wrote:
"To the right honorable the Lords and others of her Majesties most honorable Privy Councell Humbly shewing and beseeching your honors the inhabitants of the precinct of the Blackfryers London that whereas one Burbage hath lately bought certaine roomes in the same precinct neere adjoyning unto the dwelling houses of the right honorable the Lord Chamberlaine and the Lord of Hunsdon which romes the said Burbage is now altering and meaneth very shortly to convert and turne the same into a comon playhouse which will grow to be a very great annoyance and trouble not only to all the noblemen and gentlemen thereabout inhabiting but allso a generall inconvenience to all the inhabitants of the same precinct both by reason of the great resort and gathering togeather of all manner of vagrant and lewde persons that under cullor resorting to the playes will come thither and worke all manner of mischeefe and allso the greate pestring and filling up of the precinct yf it should please God to send any visitation of sicknesse as heretofore hath been for that the same precinct is allready very populous and besides that the same playhouse is so neere the Church that the of the drummes and trumpetts will disturbe and hinder both the ministers parishioners in tyme of devine service".
So, Richard Burbage (James' son, James had died in 1597) rented the theatre to a Henry Evans who ran a Boy’s Company (an acting company with only boy actors). The Lord Chamberlain’s Men built and moved into the Globe instead.
The boy's company, called 'The Children of the Chapel' was controversial. They kidnapped a number of boys to train as actors, under the pretext that the boys would be trained as choristers. Queen Elizabeth had decreed that it was acceptable for certain groups to train boys to sing whether their parents wanted them to or not. It seems it was a legal loophole to allow taking boys who might be good as actors. Only one boy, Thomas Clifford, was freed from this enforced training due to a court case brought by his father. Read more about child actors here or on Julie Ackroyd's page here. Julie has written a book about the topic called Child Actors on the London Stage, Circa 1600: Their Education, Recruitment & Theatrical Success.
After James I took the throne and the Lord Chamberlain’s Men became the King’s Men, the restrictions eased off. The King’s Men got the Blackfriars theatre back in August of 1608. However, the theatre needed repairs and was temporarily closed for the plague so they were not able to open it until 1610.
The Blackfriars Theatre's target audience was a richer one than that of outdoor theatres. Tickets cost at least four times more than at the Globe. Because it was indoors, plays could be put on in the winter, which extended the season for The King's men.
The very first time that actresses appeared on the English stage in 1629, they did it at the Blackfriars Theatre. The actors were male and female French players. In a letter addressed to the Bishop of London, a man called Thomas Brande expressed the public indignation that was stired up. He said that the French actresses were "hissed, hooted, and pippin-pelted from the stage," and stated that he "did not think they would soon be ready to try the same again".
If you have time for a drink, at the end of Playhouse
Yard, you can go left into Blackfriars Lane and walk down to the Black Friar pub (This is an Art Nouveau Grade II building, built in 1905).
If you would like to press on with the walk, retrace your steps past the Cockpit pub near the site of the Blackfriars Gatehouse once owned by WS. Now turn right and continue down St Andrew's Hill to the church, St Andrew's by the Wardrobe (15 on the map).
If this is a weekday you can pop in and see a wooden carving of WS and also of John Dowland. The church's name is derived from the Kings Wardrobe previously discussed. and behind this church, towards the river, in Shakespeare's time was Baynard's Castle. This castle was used as the backdrop to a scene in Richard III.
Turn left and walk up the side of the church. You will find yourself in Knightrider Street (nothing to do with the TV series). Continue along the street as far as it will go then turn right towards the Millennium Bridge. Go towards the bridge, but look on the right just before you cross Queen Victoria Street. Here is the College of Arms (16 on the map). This building was built after the great fire, but is the site of the College of Arms that was here when Shakespeare was alive. Information about this is in the next stage.
If you would like to press on with the walk, retrace your steps past the Cockpit pub near the site of the Blackfriars Gatehouse once owned by WS. Now turn right and continue down St Andrew's Hill to the church, St Andrew's by the Wardrobe (15 on the map).
If this is a weekday you can pop in and see a wooden carving of WS and also of John Dowland. The church's name is derived from the Kings Wardrobe previously discussed. and behind this church, towards the river, in Shakespeare's time was Baynard's Castle. This castle was used as the backdrop to a scene in Richard III.
 |
| Baynards Castle with Blackfriar's behind. |
