The Shakespeare Lancaster

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The Shakespeare is the last survivor of a dozen inns and taverns that lined the ancient route of St Leonards Gate into the city of Lancaster. It serviced the shipyards and their associated maritime industries when Lancaster was a bustling sea port at the end of the 18th Century together with the travellers and coaching services moving up and down the country for whom a stop at Lancaster was essential until the advent of railways made a nights stop less of a necessity.

The Shakespeare features in business registers and church records of the Georgian era, and the name reflects the early importance of the Grand Theatre (now the third oldest working theatre in the country) which first opened across the road in 1782, and where Mrs Sarah Siddons performed in many of the Shakespearean tragedies (and where her ghost has lived on ever since).

Today The Shakespeare is a rather more sedate seven-roomed 4 Star Bed and Breakfast, close to the heart of Lancaster's city centre, with The Grand and The Dukes' theatres within two minutes walk. For those visiting Lancaster University the main bus station is less than 3 minutes walk and the railway station within ten minutes of the city's pedestrianised centre.