Welcome to the post-discovery archive of the
Rose Playhouse, 1989 to present
This is a 'sneak peek' for Friends of the Rose Theatre in 2024.
A new version will launch later this year.
Thank you to the Bodleian Library and Folger Shakespeare Library for
consultation during the Digitising the Early Modern Stage conferences of 2017 and 2019.
(Video from 1989: Iain Mackintosh and Ray Cooney interviews at Westminster.
Hover over image and click on the note icon to unmute.)
1989 - Discovery
The Campaign to Save the Rose
The Rose was found by archaeologists from the Museum of London during site inspection after the demolision of Southbridge House on Park Street. Despite extensions given for more time, the work had to stop before the site could be fully excavated. It was only because of prolonged public protest that the Rose was preserved in situ with the promise of future access and development.
The Rose was scheduled as a Ancient Monument in 1992, after completion of the office block which now envelops the site.
Now, the Rose Revealed Project, currently in progress, will complete the excavation started in 1989, preserve the archaeological remains and present the Rose as a heritage site, museum
and new performance venue.
Photo: Andrew Fulgoni, 1989
Cutaway: William Dudley after C. Walter Hodges
About this collection
Current holdings and plans for the Rose Archive
This archive presents a range of collections that, taken together, capture the story of the preservation of Rose after the 1989 discovery. It includes material from the "Campaign to Save the Rose",
technical drawings and engineering schemes for the site's excavation and redevelopment, documentary video,
and on-site performance history since
re-opening to the public in 1999.
Eventually, it will hold documents related to the
"Rose Revealed Project" currently underway.
"A nott what I haue layd owt abowt my playhowse
ffor payntinge & doinge it a bowt wth calme bordes & other Repracyones as ffoloweth 1595..."
Were you there?
Contribute to the oral history collection for the Rose
The Rose Theatre Archive is growing.
If you would like to help preserve the story of the Rose,
please consider contributing documents, artefacts or
your memories to this collection.
Contact Me
Would you like to send me a note?
Copyright: Johanna Schmitz, 2022
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