Planning Case Study 56
Land bounded by Curtain Road/Hewett Street/Great Eastern Street/Fairchild Place/Plough Yard/Hearn Street, Shoreditch, Hackney
Planning scenario(s)
Heritage assets affected
Designated heritage assets with archaeological and historic interest
Type of application & broad category
Local planning authority
Authority: London Borough of Hackney
References: 2012/3871
Development proposal
A large mixed scheme of 385 flats, office and retail.
Archaeological information known about the site before the planning application was made, or before the development commenced, as appropriate
The site was a candidate for the location of The Curtain, an Elizabethan playhouse built by 1577, close to an earlier playhouse called The Theatre. William Shakespeare’s acting company were resident at The Curtain c.1597 and his plays of the period are likely to have received their first performances there.
Archaeological/planning processes
Pre-determination evaluation trenching in 2010 identified structural and artefactual remains contemporary with The Curtain and evidence in them compatible with the former presence of a stage.
The developer was highly engaged with the discovery and with proposals for exhibition of the remains of The Curtain theatre in a publicly-accessible basement, with associated interpretation.
Post-determination evaluation, secured by condition, provided further important evidence that The Curtain stood at the site and that it was well-preserved. Plans for preservation and display were drawn up and agreed, based on the inferred form and extent of The Curtain, informed by the evaluation results and similar examples. Deposits and features unconnected with The Curtain were subsequently archaeologically excavated across the site in 2016 by MoLA before the site was backfilled and an acceptable engineering scheme for redevelopment devised. During excavation it became clear that the playhouse was not polygonal as had been presumed, but rectangular. The new information necessitated significant redesign of the exhibition space and the engineering to support the buildings above.
Some limited further excavation was carried out and a number of exotic engineering solutions including canted piles and plunge piles were agreed with GLAAS and the local planning authority to permit the consented scheme to go ahead with a differently-shaped exhibition space to that originally planned. A pre-commencement planning condition was attached to the planning permission.
Outcomes: archaeological
The site was preserved in the revised exhibition space (see above) and is awaiting the completion of development, after which it will be uncovered and the public display created. It is intended that it will then be designated as Hackney’s second scheduled monument and linked with The Theatre nearby and with other examples of Hackney’s Elizabethan heritage. At the time of writing, the site is being considered for designation by Historic England.
Other outcomes/outputs e.g. other public benefit such as public engagement, research and new/changed work practices
Public display of the excavated theatre, an exhibition, and links with other contemporary heritage in the borough.
References and links/bibliography
- MoLA 2011, Curtain Road, Hewett Street London EC2A, London Borough of Hackney, An evaluation report. MOLA Unpublished report.
- Bowsher, J, Shakespeare's London Theatreland: Archaeology, History and Drama, MoLA 2012.
- MoLA 2015, Land Bounded by Hearn Street, Curtain Road, Hewett Street and Plough Yard, Shoreditch London EC2A, Report on 2nd and 3rd phase archaeological evaluations. Unpublished report.
- MoLA 2017, The Stage site bounded by Hearn Street Curtain Road and Hewett Street London EC2A, London Borough of Hackney, Interim post- excavation assessment. Unpublished report.
