Bankside

The Rose Theatre

Bankside
LONDON

This wooden theatre which stands near to Shakespeare's Globe on Bankside south of the Thames was once as famous as The Globe and was its great rival in Elizabethan times for putting on plays.

The public flocked to see the plays and to enjoy the pleasures of the area known as Bankside, which was regarded as a cross between Soho and Theatreland in its day.

The Rose was constructed in wood, with a thatched roof, and inevitably it was consumed by fire early in the 17th century, just like the Globe.

To everyone's surprise the foundations of the Rose were found recently, when excavations for another office block were underway.  The site was saved thanks to the efforts of a restoration trust, and efforts are now being made to reconstruct the Rose in the same was that the Globe has risen from the ashes.

You can see the exhibition about the Rose on the original site - it is well worth the effort.

Nearest Tube stations: Borough or Southwark. The RV1 bus passes very close by.

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