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The Rose Theatre is a late sixteenth-century playhouse located in Rose Court, Southwark, that operated between approximately 1587 and 1605. Built by Philip Henslowe and John Cholmley, it was one of the earliest purpose-built theatres in England and served as the venue for plays by Christopher Marlowe and other dramatists of the period. The theatre's remains, discovered during excavations in 1989, reveal a timber-framed structure with a polygonal or circular plan typical of playhouses of its era. The site is of considerable archaeological significance as one of the few surviving examples of Elizabethan theatre construction, providing substantial physical evidence of early modern theatrical practice and design.
The Rose Theatre, Rose Court, Southwark is a scheduled monument protected by Historic England under reference 1012707. View the official record →
The Rose Theatre is a late sixteenth-century playhouse located in Rose Court, Southwark, that operated between approximately 1587 and 1605. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic England (NHLE) under reference 1012707.
The Rose Theatre, Rose Court, Southwark is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Historic England (NHLE) — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in England. The official designation reference is 1012707.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including The Globe Theatre (0.1 km), Romano-British bath house and medieval remains at 11-15 Borough High Street (0.5 km), Roman riverboat, 136m west of Greenwood Theatre (0.7 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 15 strands of The Rose Theatre, Rose Court, Southwark's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
The Rose Theatre, Rose Court, Southwark stands on Thames Group, bedrock that formed in the Eocene. The rock here is clay, silt, sand and gravel.