Published: Wednesday, 21st August 2024
Archaeological work at St George’s Guildhall, the UK’s oldest working theatre, has revealed a 600-year-old doorway which may once have led to William Shakespeare’s dressing room.
Last year the King’s Lynn theatre created headlines around the world after identifying floorboards believed to have been part of the stage where Shakespeare once performed.
Now further archaeological investigations as part of a huge conservation project for the Guildhall have revealed another tantalising link to the Bard.
The Guildhall’s Creative Director Tim FitzHigham had long been intrigued by a strange shape in a wall on the theatre’s ground floor hidden behind two phases of plasterboards.
In collaboration with archaeologist Dr Jonathan Clarke, specialist plaster remover Paul Wooles, the Borough of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk, and the National Trust, it was decided to investigate further.
The first notice board was removed, revealing a second notice board behind it, and then an 18th century wall. As bricks from this wall were removed an extraordinary, much-earlier archway was revealed.
"It has got to be pre-1405 as the hall’s medieval roof is held up above it," said Tim FitzHigham.
The door is believed to be the entrance to a room where the players changed and stored props.
“Further exploratory work identified the arch as the door to what is believed to be the Guild Robing Room. This room was used by the highest level of Guild members to dress in their finery before feasting upstairs.
“The Guilds, akin to 1400s membership clubs, ceased using the hall, and the room likely took on the role of a dressing room or ‘tiring house’ for visiting actors,” he added.
During the Elizabethan period, the tiring house would have been bustling with actors changing and collecting props, often overseen by a prop master to ensure the safety of valuable items.
In Shakespeare’s time the Guildhall was used extensively by touring companies - Queen Elizabeth's Men, a troupe of actors formed at the command of the Tudor Queen in 1583, performed there 10 times in the late 1500s.
In 1592-3 London's theatres were closed because of another outbreak of plague and William Shakespeare and his company of actors were on tour in King's Lynn in Norfolk.
"This is another mind-boggling discovery at the Guildhall," said Tim. "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.
“It is simply staggering that again a slight hunch or weird shape in the wall has turned out to be something frankly extraordinary,” he added.
Dr Clarke’s research has also almost certainly pinpointed the location of a stairway that once connected to the tiring house, emphasising the historical significance of the find.
“This 15th century doorway appears to have provided access to a medium sized low status room, and not to have ever had a door closing up the arch; it may have been made private with a simple hanging when required,” he said.
“It is the type of room where travelling groups of players might change due to its location within the Guildhall. It would have given them a private space where they could put things, change and then travel up the staircase to appear on the first floor in their costume,” he added.
St George’s Guildhall is Grade 1 listed and is the largest intact medieval guild hall in England.
The St George’s Guildhall project, which is supported by funding from the Towns Fund, will see the refurbishment of Britain’s oldest working theatre and the formation of a new creative hub on the site.
The works will create an inspiring, welcoming, and historic space for arts, entertainment, creativity and learning with something for everyone to enjoy and experience.
Cllr Simon Ring, deputy leader of West Norfolk Council and member of the Town Deal Board, said: “St George’s Guildhall was identified as a Town Deal project because of its potential to support the regeneration of King’s Lynn.
“This discovery shows just how much potential its rich history has to help us establish King’s Lynn – and the wider borough of West Norfolk – as a destination with high-quality cultural and leisure opportunities.