600-year-old doorway — likely used by Shakespeare — discovered at historic UK theater
As the United Kingdom’s oldest working theater, St. George’s Guildhall has seen centuries of artists, poets and actors within its walls.
It was even used by a man known the world over — William Shakespeare.
Now, archaeologists working on the theater have discovered what appears to be a doorway, and one that Shakespeare likely used during his time at the guildhall, the Borough Council of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk said in an Aug. 21 news release.
The discovery comes one year after archaeologists working to conserve the guildhall discovered floorboards that they believe were part of the stage where Shakespeare would have performed, the council said.
As the conservation was ongoing, the guildhall’s creative director, Tim FitzHigham, noticed a “strange shape in a wall on the theater’s ground floor hidden behind two phases of plasterboards,” the council said.
The team carefully pulled back the first layer of plaster to find another layer beneath it, according to the council, which was also pulled back to reveal a wall from the 18th century.
They removed the bricks, and behind them was the archway from a much earlier construction, the council said.
“It has got to be pre-1405 as the hall’s medieval roof is held up above it,” FitzHigham said.
Archaeologists believe the archway is actually a doorway to the Guild robing room, a special room that was used by elite members of the Guilds, a 1400s membership club that would use the space to put on their fanciest clothes before joining a feast upstairs, the council said.
But in the 1500s, the building was used by actors, and the room may have been used by the prop master to collect and oversee the props used in performances, according to the council.
At the end of the 16th century, Shakespeare was touring with his company of actors through King’s Lynn in Norfolk when London’s theater scene was closed because of a plague outbreak, the council said, and the group used the guildhall.
“This is another mind-boggling discovery at the guildhall,” FitzHigham said. “We’ve got a door that would definitely have been here in the years we think Shakespeare played here and, in all likelihood, was the door to a room where the players changed and stored props.”
Shakespeare, the renowned poet and playwright, was born in 1564 and had built a reputation for himself in London by 1592, according to the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.
He was a founding member of the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, an acting company, and served as their regular “dramatist” or playwright for nearly 20 years, including while they toured outside of London, according to the Trust.
Some of his most famous tragedies and romances — King Lear, Macbeth, The Winter’s Tale and The Tempest — were written during his time with the company, before his death in 1616, the Trust says.
King’s Lynn and West Norfolk is a district in eastern England on the coast of the North Sea, about a 100-mile drive northeast of London.
This story was originally published August 22, 2024 at 9:20 AM with the headline "600-year-old doorway — likely used by Shakespeare — discovered at historic UK theater."
