The property lies in London’s Blackfriars district, near the River Thames<\/a>, according to a recent press release from King’s College London (KCL).<\/p>\n The property covered what is now Ireland Yard and parts of Burgon Street, including the area around 5 St. Andrew\u2019s Hill in Blackfriars.<\/p>\n MARINE EXPERTS FIND LIKELY REMAINS OF 18TH-CENTURY TREASURE SHIP THAT WAS LOST FOR CENTURIES<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Professor Lucy Munro, a professor of Shakespeare and early modern literature at KCL, identified the location by uncovering a previously overlooked 1668 map.<\/p>\n From there, Munro linked it to a chain of property records tracing ownership back to Shakespeare.<\/p>\n A portrait of English playwright William Shakespeare, whose works are celebrated worldwide and commonly taught in American English courses. (Universal History Archive\/UIG\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n The professor told KCL, “I was doing research as part of a wider project and couldn\u2019t believe it when I realized what I was looking at \u2014 the floorplan of Shakespeare’s Blackfriars house.”<\/p>\n The property’s exact location “has puzzled academics since the 18th century,” though scholars have long known that Shakespeare owned property in Blackfriars later in life, the university said.\u00a0<\/p>\n ARCHAEOLOGISTS PINPOINT SITE OF DOOMED ‘SPANISH ROANOKE’ COLONY AFTER UNEARTHING SINGLE CLUE<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n “It has long been thought that Shakespeare retired from his London theater career not long after he purchased the Blackfriars house in 1613, returning to Stratford-upon-Avon, where he had a comfortable life as a gentleman,” KCL’s release stated.<\/p>\n “However, this discovery could indicate that Shakespeare spent more time in London in his later years than has been thought.”<\/p>\n Researchers traced the likely site of William Shakespeare’s long-lost London home to the Blackfriars district, placing it near the area where prominent playhouses operated during his career. (Mike Kemp\/In Pictures via Getty Images)<\/p>\n Speaking to Fox News Digital, Munro said she’s “confident” that her discovery marks the exact location of Shakespeare’s property.<\/p>\n The professor said a “continuous paper trail” from 1613 to 1667 confirms the property’s exact location, backed by indentures, lease records and a map drafted shortly after the Great Fire of London<\/a> in 1666.<\/p>\n The documents also shed some light on how Shakespeare may have used the property, though it’s not entirely clear.<\/p>\n CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTER<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n “I think that the 1668 plan encourages us to reassess how he might have used it, as it gives us a much clearer idea of what it might have been like,” she said.<\/p>\n “It shows that the house was L-shaped, with a section to the north of the gate that stretched back from St Andrew\u2019s Hill. That section is about 58 square meters [624 square feet], and it probably had two stories, as part of it was erected over the gate.”<\/p>\n “It’s exciting to realize that there are still new things to find out about\u00a0Shakespeare\u2019s life and career.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n She added the evidence suggests Shakespeare may have intended to use the London property<\/a> himself, not just as an investment \u2014 though the property “clearly had the potential for subdivision.”<\/p>\n Said Munro, “We know from his will that he had rented it out by 1616, as he mentions his tenant, John Robinson, but when\u00a0Shakespeare\u00a0bought the house he seems to have gone to some lengths to get it with vacant possession,” meaning there were no sitting tenants.\u00a0<\/p>\n CLICK HERE FOR MORE LIFESTYLE STORIES<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n She added, “A sitting tenant is mentioned in one copy of the sale document, but that clause is crossed out and deleted, and it doesn\u2019t appear in the other copy. \u2026 So\u00a0Shakespeare\u00a0may well have bought the house with the intention of living there, or of renting part of it and using the other part for himself.”<\/p>\n Researchers used historical deeds and records dating back to 1613 to identify the location of William Shakespeare’s former London property in Blackfriars. (Aaron Chown\/PA Images via Getty Images)<\/p>\n The house is also less than a five-minute walk from the Blackfriars playhouse, where Shakespeare was working and co-authoring plays<\/a>, which Munro says “suggests that we need to reappraise what he was doing in 1613.”<\/p>\n She said that year is “generally treated in the scholarship as a kind of phased retirement to Stratford, but I think that this view is conditioned in part by the fact that we know that he died in 1616 \u2014 he obviously did not know that!”<\/p>\n \u00a0TEST YOURSELF WITH OUR LATEST LIFESTYLE QUIZ<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n So “the purchase of a substantial house in the Blackfriars precinct complicates things, as it argues that he had an ongoing professional and substantial investment in London.”<\/p>\n Munro said future excavations<\/a> at the site are “unlikely at this stage,” noting a previous investigation there did not uncover any archaeological remains \u2014 but that doesn’t mean that research won’t continue.<\/p>\n Researchers identified the likely location of William Shakespeare’s long-lost London home in the Blackfriars district, placing it near where historic playhouses once stood, pictured at left, during his career. (MOLA\/Getty Images; Stock Montage\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n “I\u2019d like to know more about\u00a0Shakespeare’s intentions when he bought it, and whether his daughter and granddaughter<\/a> ever stayed there, but these things are very difficult to recover from the kinds of documentation that mostly survive, such as property transactions,” Munro added \u2014 noting there’s still some potential to find out who\u00a0Shakespeare\u2019s neighbors were in 1613.<\/p>\n CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n![\"Portrait](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Shakespeare.jpg\")
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