The Red Lion and the White Horse: Inns used by Patronized Performers in Norwich, 1583-1624

Abstract

Two Norwich inns, the Red Lion and the White Horse, are known to have been used by patronised performers between 1583 and 1624. The non-theatrical documentary and material records presented here elucidate the inns’ locations, functions, and dimensions; ownership, status in the community, and relationship to the city government; popularity as performance venues; and fates in later centuries. At their heights, the inns were respectable, lucrative, reliable venues, well managed, well appointed, and individually stable for decades. They represent what was likely a thriving and long-lasting entertainment industry, supported by city government but operating outside official civic auspices.