Place Name
Named after the Blackfriars Playhouse, which was opened here by actor James Burbage in 1596 on the site of the former 13thCentury Blackfriars Priory, which had been closed down some 60 years earlier in the dissolution of the monasteries. However despite the theatre’s successes, in no small part thanks to its performances of William Shakespeare’s latest plays – for a time the playwright held a share in its ownership – it was closed down by Oliver Cromwell in 1642 during the Commonwealth and the building knocked down in 1655 to form this yard.
