In brief
William Shakespeare's only known property in London has been accurately located on a Blackfriars street thanks to an unexpected floorplan discovery. This finding, made by Professor Lucy Munro from King's College London, could indicate that Shakespeare remained active in London longer than assumed, contradicting former beliefs that he returned to Stratford-upon-Avon soon after acquiring the property in 1613. The blue plaque on St Andrew's Hill now marks the actual site of his residence, shedding light on Shakespeare's life in the city.
The exact location of William Shakespeare's only London property has been pinpointed to a Blackfriars street, after an unknown floorplan was discovered.
Shakespeare expert Prof Lucy Munro from King's College London identified the location and size of the property he bought in 1613.
It had been thought that Shakespeare retired from his theatre career not long after he bought the house and returned to Stratford-upon-Avon. However, academics believe the discovery could indicate that the playwright spent more time in London than previously believed.
It also means that the blue plaque for Shakespeare on St Andrew's Hill is not near the site of his London house, but on the spot it used to exist.
Shakespeare's Blackfriars property was thought to have been part of the Great Gate over the entrance to the Blackfriars precinct, a major 13th-century Dominican friary.
Munro uncovered three documents – two from the London Archives and one from the National Archives – that provided more information.
Munro said: I was doing research as part of a wider project and couldn't believe it when I realised what I was looking at - the floorplan of Shakespeare's Blackfriars house.
It had been assumed that there wasn't much more evidence to gather about it, so research on it has laid dormant for a while.
These findings really help us tell the complete story of Shakespeare's Blackfriars house, and thanks to this new discovery we now know exactly where it stood.
One of the documents was a plan of part of the Blackfriars precinct, drawn up in 1668, two years after the Great Fire of London, which confirmed the precise location and size of Shakespeare's Blackfriars house.
The part of the property that spanned the gate did not appear in the post-fire plan because it had no foundation.
Munro said: This house was close to [Shakespeare's] workplace at the Blackfriars theatre.
We know that Shakespeare co-authored Two Noble Kinsmen with John Fletcher later in 1613, and this new evidence that the Blackfriars house was quite substantial makes it not inconceivable that some of it may have been written in this very property.
The other two of these documents relate to the sale of the Blackfriars property by Shakespeare's granddaughter in 1665.
The property covered what are now the eastern end of Ireland Yard, the bottom of Burgon Street and parts of the late 19th-century buildings at 5 Burgon Street and 5 St Andrew's Hill.
