Bankside

Southwark (SE1) Richard Burbage's Globe Theatre, built about 1593, stood here, and here Shakespeare played under a licence granted by James I in 1603. The building, a wooden structure, was burned down in June 1613, Ben Jonson being an eyewitness. It was rebuilt in 1614. The site is now included in the premises of Barclay & Perkins's Brewery. On the same site stood the Rose Theatre, built long before, and probably the first theatre on Bankside. Yet another theatre, the Hope, also stood here, and was utilised both as a bear-garden and playhouse. On Bankside Sir William Walworth, the valiant Lord Mayor who slew Wat Tyler, owned several stew-houses, as they were called, meaning bagnios or baths. Each had its own particular name, as "The Cranes," "The Cardinal's Hat," "The Cross Keys," "The Swan," etc., from which Bankside in or about 1500 bore the name of " Stews-bank." Here Oliver Goldsmith practised medicine and, it is reported, nearly starved.