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 | | Sunday, 14 October, 2001, 07:53 GMT 08:53 UK Plan to excavate Rose Theatre  The remains are in better condition than expected The discovery that the remains of Shakespeare's Rose Theatre are in a reasonable condition has led to calls for more to be spent on excavating the site. The Rose, where many of William Shakespeare's plays were first performed, was rediscovered in 1989. It is the only Elizabethan theatre left in the world of which there are substantial remains. English Heritage have now put up �17,500 for a preliminary excavation of the site after timber planks and posts were found to be well- preserved. Mike Corfield, chief scientist for English Heritage, said: "It would be magnificent to see th site properly explored and put on show to the public."
A trust has been set up to campaign for a full excavation of the site near Southwark Bridge. The Rose opened in 1587 but was closed in 1605 after staging plays by Shakespeare and others such as Christopher Marlowe and Thomas Kyd. Baroness Tessa Blackstone, Minister for the Arts, said she was encouraged by what she saw at the site. "The results could lead to important light being shed on the history of Elizabethan theatre, one of Britain's greatest contributions to world culture." In 1989 more than half of the Rose's remains were discovered during the development of an office block. A campaign at the time saved them from being destroyed and since then they have been preserved under layers of concrete, sand and water. The newly-built Globe Theatre, which is a reconstruction of an Elizabethan open-air theatre, was modelled on the remains of the Rose. | |   See also: Internet links: The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites Top England stories now:  Links to more England stories are at the foot of the page. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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