Bank.

The builder of the Rose was one Philip Henslowe, then, so far as our
evidence goes, unknown to the dramatic world, but destined soon to
become the greatest theatrical proprietor and manager of the
Tudor-Stuart age. We find him living on the Bankside and in the
Liberty of the Clink at least as early as 1577. At first, so we are
told, he was "but a poor man," described as "servant ... unto one Mr.
Woodward." Upon the death of his employer, Woodward, he married the
widow, Agnes Woodward, and thus came into the possession of
considerable property. "All his wealth came by her," swore the
charwoman Joan Horton. This, however, simply means that Henslowe
obtained his original capital by his marriage; for, although very
illiterate, he was shrewd in handling money, and he quickly amassed
"his wealth" through innumerable business ventures.

As one of these ventures, no doubt, he leased from the Parish of St.
Mildred, on March 24, 1585, a small piece of property on the Bankside
known as "The Little Rose." "Among the early surveys, 1 Edward VI,"
says Rendle, "we see that this was not merely a name--the place was a
veritable Rose Garden."[210] At the time of the lease the property is
described as consisting of a dwelling-house called "The Rose," "two
gardens adjoining the same" consisting of "void ground," and at least
one other small building. The dwelling-house Henslowe probably leased
as a brothel--for this was the district of the stews; and the small
building mentioned above, situated at the south end of one of the
gardens, he let to a London grocer named John Cholmley, who used it
"to keep victualing in."[211]

[Footnote 210: W. Rendle, in _The Antiquarian Magazine and
Bibliographer_, VIII, 60.]

[Footnote 211: For the earlier history of the Rose estate see Rendle,
_The Bankside_, p. xv, and Greg, _Henslowe's Diary_, II, 43. "The plan
of the Rose estate in the vestry of St. Mildred's Church in London
marks the estate exactly, but not the precise site of the Rose
Playhouse. The estate consisted of three rods, and was east of Rose
Alley." (Rendle, _The Bankside_, p. xxx.)]

Not satisfied, however, with the income from these two buildings,
Henslowe a year and a half later was planning to utilize a part of the
"void ground" for the erection of a theatre. What interested him in
the drama we do not know, but we may suppose that the same reason
which led Burbage, Brayne, Lanman, and others to build playhouses
influenced h