Beargarden

The Beargarden stood on Bankside in Southwark, a round open building much like the public theatres of the time. It hosted bear-baiting, bull-baiting and other animal sports from the 1560s until the early 1680s. The site shifted within Bankside, first in Paris Garden then in the Clink liberty near the Rose Theatre. Contemporary maps show a three-storey polygonal structure with tiered seating for crowds. Samuel Pepys called the spectacle a ‘rude and nasty pleasure’ after visiting in 1666. The last recorded event in 1682 was the baiting of a vicious horse for a Moroccan ambassador. The Beargarden drew foreign visitors and Londoners alike, including the Duke of Biron in 1601 and the Duke of Najera in 1544. Royal officers managed the animals: Ralph Bowes served Elizabeth I as Master of Her Majesty’s Game at Paris Garden. Philip Henslowe and Edward Alleyn bought the royal office in 1604 and rebuilt the venue as the Hope Theatre in 1614. A scaffold collapse in 1583 killed eight spectators, blamed by Puritans on divine displeasure. The Hope kept both plays and baiting until animal sports dominated. Visitors found a circular arena surrounded by galleries where dogs attacked tethered bears or bulls. Famous bears like Sackerson and Harry Hunks were whipped until bloody. Acts included horses with apes tied to their backs chased by dogs, and fireworks shaped like a flaming rose raining apples and rockets. Pepys watched a bull toss a dog into a box of spectators. After the horse-baiting of 1682, the Beargarden closed and the site faded from memory.