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Wigan Album

King Street & King Street West, Wigan

12 Comments

The Old Shakespeare Hotel
The Old Shakespeare Hotel
Photo: Part of Syd and Trevor Smith's Archive
Views: 5,023
Item #: 18923
The Old Shakespeare Hotel on King Street.

Comment by: josie on 17th November 2011 at 20:14

is this hotel on the corner of king st,i cant think where it was or if the building still stands ? or is it near wallgate station ?

Comment by: Ron Hunt on 17th November 2011 at 20:31

The Shakeaspeare was next to the car park which is next to Brocol House. It was next to the Hippodrome

Comment by: josie on 17th November 2011 at 22:48

thanks ron, i can tell now.

Comment by: Gerry on 18th November 2011 at 11:17

This pub is where my dad had his first underage drink he soon scarpered when a police man in uniform and a judge in his wig and gown came in. it was days later that he discoverd the the two people were actors in a play at the hippodrome and had nipped into the shakespear to have a drink in the interval

Comment by: Keith on 19th November 2011 at 22:30

In the early 60's, one of the first pubs I ventured into. It was packed, you could hardly turn round, and a Chief of Police accompanied by an assistant Constable immediately asked me my date of birth. Fortunately I was 18, otherwise I could envisage being carted off to the cells! How times have changed.

Comment by: George R. on 25th November 2011 at 15:59

The Shakespeare Hotel was originally the Theatre Royal closed as a theatre when the Hippodrome was built in 1904.The Theatre Royal opened in 1850 behind a private house owned by a mr Morris,this was demolished when the theatre was remodeled by Mr H J Worswick in 1890.In 1904 what was once the facade of the theatre was retained as the front of The Shakespeare Hotel.

Comment by: Alan Gears on 16th January 2013 at 16:50

The Shakespeare was next to the Hippodrome Theatre and the Trustee Savings Bank was the next one up. When I worked at the bank in the 60's we closed at 7p.m.but finished work at 8p.m. or later. Then it was into the Shakespeare for a couple of pints. Home and then back to work for 8.30a.m.Saturday morning.

Comment by: Sybil Bellis on 23rd March 2021 at 12:34

Sorry but the Shakespeare Hotel was on the opposite side of King Street, my G Grandfather was living there in 1861 with his sister and an aunt and uncle

Comment by: Alan Wright on 23rd March 2021 at 14:16

The Shakespeare was definitely next to the Trustee Savings Bank, on the same side as the Hippodrome.

Comment by: Kathryn on 5th August 2021 at 12:58

Was this where Stanley Oakes was?

Comment by: Katherine Smith Cobbs on 3rd March 2023 at 21:30

I'm doing my ancestry and one of my ancestors, John Thomas Murtock, is listed at Shakepeare Hotel on King St. I think he may have had the license to sell liquor there - was there a pub there in the 30s/40s. I believe his wife was Mary Elizabeth and son was J. T. Murtock Jr and listed as a doctor. Any tips would be great!

Comment by: Ron Hunt on 3rd March 2023 at 21:55

Katherine this is the SHAKESPEARE HOTEL

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