The U.K.-based Shakespeare Fellowship’s newsletters from the early 1940’s contained many references to the war then raging in Europe. In the May 1943 issue there is an article on the damage to Brooke House, caused by a German air raid.
Oxfordians will know Brooke House better by the name King’s Place, a residence of Oxford’s where he lived with his wife, Elizabeth Trentham, from 1596 to his death in 1604. In 1609 Elizabeth Trentham sold the house to Fulke Greville, Baron Brooke, who changed the name to Brooke House.
Demolition of the house was started in 1954. The current Blue Plaque on the site of the house, pictured at right, is not sponsored by the English Heritage and has its dates wrong.
The plaque is affixed to the entry to B6 Sixth Form College in Clapton, London – a part of the Borough of Hackney. If you look *very* closely at the photo of the entry to the school you will see it on the brick wall to the left of the main door and to the right of a lamp post.
Learn more about the fate of Brooke House and read the entire Newsletter here: https://shakespeareoxfordfellowship.org/wp-content/uploads/SFE-1943-05-MAY.pdf
