3.106 Rose Theatre update (86)

Willard McCarty (MCCARTY@VM.EPAS.UTORONTO.CA)
Wed, 7 Jun 89 21:47:34 EDT


Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 3, No. 106. Wednesday, 7 Jun 1989.

Date: 7-JUN-1989 16:09:12 GMT
From: UDAA270@ELM.CC.KCL.AC.UK
Subject: Rose Theatre update

Steve Miller, a postgraduate student at King's College London,
has been involved from early days in the campaign to save
the Elizabethan Rose theatre. An earlier message of his
was sent to Humanist, and he asked me to post the following
update.

Susan Kruse
King's College London
*************************************************************

7 June 1989
First let me thank all of those from Canada,
the USA, Britain and Sweden who troubled to reply
to my first notice about the danger to the Rose
Theatre excavation site in early May. The site
was not covered, but the grace period ends on Sunday
11 June, so those still concerned may be interested
in the following update:

Despite press reports that it has been rescued,
NO SAFE PLAN TO PRESERVE THE SITE OF THE RECENTLY
DISCOVERED ROSE THEATRE IN LONDON HAS YET BEEN
GUARANTEED.
Imry Merchant Developers who paid for the
archaeological dig which discovered the site have
submitted a plan to erect their proposed office
building on stilts over the theatre, but to do this
they need to sink huge shafts about 170 feet deep near
or possibly through the structural remains of the Rose
itself on its partially excavated site.
The urgent need is for the British Government
to list the site as a National Monument to protect
it before the site has been built upon -- despite
possible compensation costs.
On Monday, 5 June, Nicholas Ridley, Secretary
for the Environment, promised to decide within a
week whether to list the site. Anyone wishing to
encourage him to list the Rose will need to act
soon. His address is --
Nicholas Ridley, MP
Secretary of State
Department of the Environment
Lambeth Bridge House
LONDON SE1 7SB England
telephone: 01-211-3000
TELEX: 886 598

Alternatively, a direct appeal to the Prime
Minister could be addressed to --
The Rt Hon Margaret Thatcher
Prime Minister,
10 Downing Street, London SW 1 England
telephone: 270-3000.

If anyone wishes to send an electronic mail
message via me, I will forward it with an
explanation that it could not be signed because
of its method of transmission.
GENTLE READER, may I apologise again for the
lateness of these appeals, but as you may imagine
this is a very active issue with new announcements
almost daily. For academics I realise that early
June may not be the best time for answering E-Mail.
Could I ask those who notice this message to
notify others whom they think might be interested?
While I feel certain that those of us in London who
claim that there is great international concern
for the fate of this first discovery of an
Elizabethan playhouse are right, every proof we
get of that is essential. Sincerely
Stephen Miller, c/o Dept of English, King's College
London, The Strand London WC2R 2LS England.
E-Mail: UDLE031@ UK.AC.KCL.CC.OAK