ShaLT walks

These walks will allow you to discover where the 21+ Shakespearean Theatres were located in the compact London space of England's Renaissance period. Please note that the timings given are approximate. Downloadable walking maps are available on the downloads page. Happy walking!

Walk One - Shoreditch to Barbican

Starts at St. Leonard's Church, Shoreditch (having associations with theatre people like the Burbage family, whose remains are here), taking in Theatre, Curtain and Fortune sites, and ending at Barbican Arts Centre, a good refreshment point. About an hour.

Walk Two - Barbican to Clerkenwell

Starts at St Giles's Church, Barbican (where the remains of poet John Milton, a keen playgoer as a young man, lie) taking in the Revels Office (where Sir Edmund Tilney oversaw and censored plays up to 1607, including Shakespeare's), ending at the Red Bull playhouse site. About forty five minutes. Several cafes and pubs in nearby Jerusalem Passage, and at Clerkenwell Green.

Walk Three - St Paul's to Drury Lane

Starts at St Paul's, taking in the Bel Savage at Limeburner Lane, the two Blackfriars theatres, Shakespeare's Blackfriars East Gatehouse, Salisbury Court, Whitefriars, Inner Temple Hall, Middle Temple Hall, Lincoln's Inn Hall, Gray's Inn Hall, and ending at the Cockpit/Phoenix, Peabody Buildings, accessed via a passageway off Kemble Street. About ninety minutes.

Walk Four - Whitechapel to City of London

Starts at the Red Lion site, taking in the Boar's Head, Bull Inn, and, in Gracechurch ('Gracious') Street, ending at The Bell and Cross Keys inns. About an hour.

Walk Five - Southwark Cathedral to Bankside

Starts at Southwark Cathedral (previously St Mary Overie Church, where in the nave floor memorial slabs can be seen for Shakespeare's brother Edmond, and his playwright successors John Fletcher and Philip Massinger), taking in the original Globe and Rose sites, both on Park Street, the Hope site in Bear Gardens, and ending at the site of the Swan, Sampson House, Hopton Street. About forty five minutes.