Two Theatres and A Prison
There are unusual bollards on Ensign Street, with the mark "RBT". The initials stand for "Royal Brunswick Theatre". The Royalty was built here in 1787 by John Palmer. John Braham (1774 - 1756) sang at the Royalty in the same year that it opened, at the age of 14. It was burnt down in 1828. The "Royal Brunswick" It was built in its place in 1828. It collapsed almost as soon as it had been built, on 28 February 1828.
The Neptune Street Prison became familiarly known in the district as 'The Sly House'. Also known as Wellclose prison, it's remaining structures have now been preserved inside the Museum of London, where you can see the names of prisoners, scratched on the wooden wall panels by prisoners using pine cones.
Read more about this topic: Wellclose Square
Famous quotes containing the words theatres and/or prison:
“Earth has not anything to show more fair:
Dull would he be of soul who could pass by
A sight so touching in its majesty:
This city now doth, like a garment, wear
The beauty of the morning; silent, bare,
Ships, towers, domes, theatres and temples lie
Open unto the fields and to the sky;
All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.”
—William Wordsworth (1770–1850)
“The most anxious man in a prison is the governor.”
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)