What did London, England look like in the year 1600? One
strong source of information is the engravings from the period.
John Nordon's view of London, published in 1600 shows a structure labeled
"The Globe" in the Bankside section of London. The picture
also shows a number of other buildings on either side of what look like
a number of roads. Trees line some of the roads. But there
is not enough detail in the engraving to determine what any of the structures
actually looked like.
A more spectacular view of London is Claus Jan Visscher's engraving,
published in Amsterdam in 1616. Here the viewer is looking north
across the Thames river toward the city of London with St. Paul's Cathedral
centered in the view. In the foreground, the engraving also shows several buildings
in the Bankside area of Southwark on the southern side of the Thames river
including one that is labeled as the Globe theatre. There is
much more detail in this picture, but scholars have determined that it
mostly inaccurate.
In 1630, Wenceslar Hollar made a number of drawings of the city
of London and published them in 1647. Scholars have determined that
because he used a mechanical method to produce the drawings, his views
of London should be highly accurate. His Long View shows how much the city has grown in just 15 years. Hollar unfortunately mislabeled the Globe Theatre.
A starting date for this project was needed. The focus of this project is the Globe theatre and its immediate surroundings. Since the theatre was built in 1599, anytime after that would be good. I also wanted to keep the project simple to begin with, so the Nordon view will serve as the plan for the streets and buildings in the Bankside area of Southwark.
The actual location of the Globe has been pretty well established. It is south of Maid Lane with access from the north through Horseshoe Alley from Bank Side and from the east through Globe Alley from Dead Mans Place.