Blackfriars Gatehouse (Shakespeare's former property), London

If you head to the Cockpit pub in the City of London today, you're standing right where Shakespeare once made a very smart real estate move. The Blackfriars Gatehouse, sitting just a pint鈥檚 throw from the old Blackfriars Playhouse, was the Bard鈥檚 one and only known property purchase in London. Pretty handy location, too鈥擪ing鈥檚 Men, Shakespeare鈥檚 theater company, were performing his plays at Blackfriars just like they were over at the Globe, keeping the Elizabethan drama scene very much alive.

Now, a little backstory: the theater itself was built on the bones of a Dominican monastery founded way back in 1275鈥攗ntil Henry VIII, in full "dissolver of monasteries" mode, shut it down in 1538. Goodbye monks, hello actors!

Some decades later, on March 10, 1613, Shakespeare bought the Gatehouse from one Henry Walker鈥攁 "citizen and minstrel" (i.e., musician with property to spare)鈥攆or a hefty 拢140. That deed is still around today, safely tucked in the London Metropolitan Archives. And here鈥檚 the kicker: it鈥檚 one of only six places on Earth where you can see Shakespeare鈥檚 actual signature. Six. Total.

Despite all the juicy proximity to two major theaters, there's no hard proof that Shakespeare actually lived in the Gatehouse. Maybe he thought about it. Maybe he liked the idea of an easy stroll to work. But when he died in Stratford-upon-Avon three years later, the house stayed more investment property than bachelor pad鈥攂equeathed to his daughter, Susanna, who got the last word in her father's London affairs.

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Sight Name: Blackfriars Gatehouse (Shakespeare's former property)
Sight Location: London, England (See walking tours in London)
Sight Type: Attraction/Landmark
Guide(s) Containing This Sight:

Shakespeare's London Walking Tour

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