Shakespeare’s Missing Home in London Found
Researchers have successfully identified the location of William Shakespeare’s long-lost residence in London, a mystery that has intrigued historians for ages.
According to a recent announcement from King’s College London (KCL), this property was situated in the Blackfriars area of London, not far from the River Thames.
The site encompasses parts of what are now Ireland Yard and Burgon Street, particularly around 5 St Andrew’s Hill, Blackfriars.
Professor Lucy Munro, an expert in Shakespeare and Early Modern Literature at KCL, unearthed a previously neglected map from 1668 that helped her locate the property.
From this starting point, Munro connected it to various property records that traced ownership back to Shakespeare himself.
“I was doing the research as part of a broader project and couldn’t believe my eyes when I came across a sketch of Shakespeare’s Blackfriars,” Munro explained to KCL.
The university noted that the precise location of this property “has puzzled scholars since the 18th century,” although it has long been established that Shakespeare owned a property in Blackfriars during his later years.
According to KCL, “Shakespeare retired from theater in London shortly after purchasing Blackfriars House in 1613, returning to Stratford-upon-Avon, where it was commonly thought he lived a comfortable life.” However, this new finding suggests that he may have spent more time in London during his later years than previously believed.
Munro expressed her confidence about the significance of her discovery, pointing to a “continuous paper trail” from 1613 to 1667, backed by deeds, leases, and maps produced shortly after the Great Fire of London in 1666 to verify the property’s location.
The documents also provide insights into how Shakespeare utilized the land, though some details remain unclear.
“The 1668 plan encourages us to rethink how he used it, as it gives a clearer picture of its layout,” she mentioned. “It indicates that the house was L-shaped, extending from St Andrews Hill, with part of it built over the gate, likely two stories tall and measuring around 58 square meters.” That’s about 624 square feet.
She added that this evidence implies Shakespeare may have intended to occupy the London property for himself rather than viewing it purely as an investment. Still, he seemed to recognize its potential for subdivisions.
Munro noted, “From his will, we know he rented out the house by 1616, mentioning a tenant named John Robinson. Yet, when Shakespeare acquired the house, he appeared to have made efforts to buy it as vacant land.” A clause regarding residency was crossed out in one copy of the sale document, hinting he may have intended to live there or at least rent part of it.
The house’s proximity to Blackfriars Theatre, where Shakespeare worked and co-created plays, also invites a reevaluation of what he was up to in 1613. Generally, this year is considered his slow fade into retirement in Stratford, but Munro thinks this view might be influenced by the fact that he died in 1616—he obviously had no idea that was coming!
So, the acquisition of a substantial house in Blackfriars complicates our understanding of his ongoing professional ties and investments in London.
Looking ahead, Munro mentioned future excavations at the site are “unlikely at this stage,” despite previous surveys not yielding any archaeological finds. Still, she emphasized that research won’t come to a halt.
She concluded, “I’d love to discover more about Shakespeare’s intentions behind the purchase and the possibility that his family stayed there, but those details are often tough to reconstruct from the types of documents that have survived,” referencing the potential to uncover who his neighbors might have been in 1613.
“It’s thrilling to know that even with centuries of research from many talented biographers, archaeologists, and historians, mysterious aspects of Shakespeare’s life and career continue to unfold.”
