The Salisbury Court Theater and picture

The Salisbury Court Theatre

Picture of the Bell Savage Inn-Yard

The Salisbury Court Theatre
By 1629 the Whitefriars had been replaced by the Salisbury Court Theatre. The Salisbury Court Theatre was a private theatre built by Richard Gunnell and William Blagrove at a cost of £1000 in 1629. Theater was successful but it fell into decline when the Puritans came into power in England.

The Puritans moved the country to a stricter code of conduct which deplored any kind of finery or flippant behaviours. In 1648 all playhouses were ordered to be pulled down. All players were to be seized and whipped, and anyone caught attending a play to be fined five shillings.

Plays were illegally performed during the this era but the Salisbury Court Theater was destroyed by soldiers in 1649. In 1649 the Civil War finally lead to the terrible execution of King Charles I. In 1660 King Charles II is restored to the throne of England.

With the Restoration of the English monarchy and , and the demise in the power of the Puritans in 1660 Theatres finally open again. After the Restoration Salisbury Court was restored by William Beeston and was one of the first theatres to re-open. Samuel Pepys records visiting the Salisbury Court Theatre in 1661.

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