Past Marlowe Infotainment

Walks

Information about some guided walks with a Marlowe or related theme. Some of the walks may no longer be taking place, but the details and links may still be of interest.

Marlowe's Canterbury

• Walk: Christopher Marlowe and Canterbury - A Circular Walk
• Date: Any time.
• Organiser: A self-guided walk using a printable PDF leaflet produced by Explore Kent
• Start: St George's Clock Tower, 27 St George's St, Canterbury CT1 2LE. [GoogleMaps]
• End: A circular walk ending at the same place, St George's Clock Tower.
• Distance: 2.6 km / 1.6 miles along flat pavements. An alternative route omitting the Cathedral loop is shorter at 2.1 km / 1.3 miles.
• Tickets: Not required.
• Guide: Download and/or print the PDF guide containing directions and information on the 11 Marlowe related sites en route:
  • Original Guide in larger print [11 pages];
  • Latest Guide with smaller print [3 pages].
• Summary: The Christopher Marlowe and Canterbury literary walk was developed in 2010 by Explore Kent (part of Kent County Council) and was produced in conjunction with Kent Libraries and Archives using input from the Marlowe Society. The walker is guided on a leisurely stroll around some of the most interesting sites in central Canterbury, starting with the remains of the church of St George the Martyr on St George's Street where Marlowe was baptised on 26 February 1564, and ending at Mercery Lane where he was charged with assaulting William Corkine in September 1592. In between, nine other specific sites of interest include the King's School (where Marlowe was a scholar), St Alphege's Church (the city's initial refuge for Huguenots fleeing France after the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre), the Marlowe Theatre and Memorial, Stour Street (where Marlowe signed Katherine Benchkin's will in 1586) and the so-called Queen Elizabeth's Guest Chamber in the High Street, which records the monarch's visit to Canterbury in 1573 (during which she celebrated her 40th birthday).
• Website Links: Marlowe's Canterbury Walk produced by Explore Kent | The Marlowe Society.

Edward Alleyn London Walk [2022]

• Walk: Edward Alleyn in London - a guided walk.
• Last Dates: Thursday 13 October and Thursday 20 October 2022 starting at 14:00.
• Frequency: The walks are currently held once or twice a month during the non-winter months if the weather is reasonable - see the Rose website for the up-to-date schedule.
• Organiser: The Rose Playhouse on Bankside
• Start: Exit 1/2 on the west side of Moorgate tube station (Circle, Hammersmith & City, Metropolitan and Northern lines) outside Caffè Nero Express, Moorgate, London EC2Y 9AG. Look for The Rose Playhouse sign. [GoogleMaps]
• End: Farringdon tube station (Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines). [GoogleMaps]
• Duration: A two and a half hour walk along flat pavements.
• Tickets: Priced £8 per person can be purchased online from TryBooking. If the weather is bad and the walk is cancelled, the booking can be transferred to another date, or a refund given.
• Guide: A knowledgable guide from the Rose Playhouse on Bankside will lead the walk, provide commentary and answer questions.
• Summary: Edward 'Ned' Alleyn (1566-1626) was the principal actor at the Rose Playhouse on Bankside, and later founded Dulwich College. Alleyn was born in Bishopsgate, and by the age of sixteen was listed as one of the Earl of Worcester's players in 1583. By the 1590's he was a leading actor in the Admiral's Men, starring in Marlowe's leading roles as Tamburlaine and Faustus, and probably Barabas in The Jew of Malta. He helped manage the company with his step-father-in-law Philip Henslowe, owner of the Rose, and also toured the provinces. The two men went on to build and co-own the Fortune Theatre (c.1600) in Finsbury Fields, and the Hope Theatre on Bankside (1613-14). Enjoy this gentle two-hour walk through the Barbican and Clerkenwell areas of the City of London and on the way visit the sites of two of Alleyn's theatres, hear about his life, about Shakespeare, Elizabethan theatre practice and various other interesting facts courtesy of a knowledgeable guide from the Rose Playhouse.
• Website Links: The Rose Playhouse | Learn more about Edward Alleyn at Wikipedia and the Henslowe-Alleyn Digitisation Project.

Elizabethan Canterbury Walk [2022]

• Walk: Marlowe, Murder & Mystery: A Tour of Elizabethan Canterbury
• Date: Friday 21 October 2022 at 14:00.
• Organiser: Part of the 2022 Canterbury Festival
• Start: St George's Clock Tower, 27 St George's St, Canterbury CT1 2LE. [GoogleMaps]
• Distance: 2.5 km / 1.5 miles along flat pavements lasting 1 hour.
• Tickets: Priced £10.50 (including a £1.50 booking fee) should be purchased online in advance - no walk-ups allowed.
• Guide: Novelist Anna Sayburn Lane, author of Unlawful Things - a mystery about the hunt for a manuscript of Marlowe's lost final play.
• Summary: "Join thriller novelist Anna Sayburn Lane to investigate the Canterbury of Christopher Marlowe, the Elizabethan playwright, student and spy whose mysterious death continues to intrigue."
• Website Links: Anna Sayburn Lane leads an Elizabethan Canterbury walk as part of the 2022 Canterbury Festival | Online tour of Marlowe's Canterbury by Anna Sayburn Lane [YouTube]

Marlowe Statue Walk [2022]

• Walk: Christopher Marlowe Statue Walk
• Date: Sunday 23 October 2022 at 10:00am.
• Organiser: Christopher Marlowe Statue Project
• Start: St George's Clock Tower, 27 St George's St, Canterbury CT1 2LE. [GoogleMaps]
• Distance: 2.5 km / 1.5 miles along flat pavements lasting 2 hours.
• Tickets: Priced £12 can be purchased online - proceeds to raise funds for the Christopher Marlowe Statue Appeal.
• Guide: Dr David Reekie, member of the Canterbury Commemoration Society.
• Summary: "This guided walk will tell the story of Canterbury's most famous writer and will take you to the places in Canterbury most associated with his life and death. A playwright of genius, Marlowe was also a spy, an atheist and a street fighter who came to a violent end in Deptford. The walk is organised to raise funds for a Christopher Marlowe Statue proposed to be located at St. George's Clock Tower where he was baptised."
• Website Links: A Christopher Marlowe Canterbury walk to raise funds for a Marlowe statue by local sculptor Steve Portchmouth | Christopher Marlowe Statue Committee

Marlowe's Footsteps - Canterbury Walk [2022]

• Walk: Kit's Canterbury – In the Footsteps of Christopher Marlowe
• Date: Saturday 29 October 2022 at 11:30.
• Organiser: Part of the Canterbury Festival
• Start: St George's Clock Tower, 27 St George's St, Canterbury CT1 2LE. [GoogleMaps]
• Distance: 4.8 km / 3 miles lasting an hour and a half along flat pavements, with some uneven ground.
• Tickets: Priced £10.50 (including a £1.50 booking fee) should be purchased online in advance - no walk-ups allowed.
• Guide: Franki Gray, events co-ordinator for the Friends of The Rose Playhouse and Marlowe Society member.
• Summary: "Discover life in Elizabethan Canterbury and its connections with Marlowe, his family, his early years and education and the start of an exciting and mysterious life!"
• Website Links: Franki Gray leads a Christopher Marlowe walk as part of the 2022 Canterbury Festival.

Niall McDevitt's Marlowe Walks [2019]

• Walks: Two Marlowe Walks in Shoreditch and Deptford guided by Niall McDevitt.
• Dates: Niall McDevitt last ran his Marlowe walks before the Covid pandemic in 2019. Follow his Twitter account or check out his blog for any future announcements.
• Organiser: Poet-psychogeographer Niall McDevitt has organised many walks about various poets in and around London. As well as Marlowe, subjects have included Chaucer, Shakespeare, Blake, Shelley, Thomas de Quincey, T.S.Eliot, and Joyce. His two Marlowe walks are summarised below.
• 1. The Death Warrant of Christopher Marlowe [June 2019]: "Pederasty. Espionage. Rebellion. Assassination... Christopher Marlowe's CV is the most dramatic in English literature. A precocious genius born in the same year as Shakespeare - 1564 - his career was over just as Shakespeare's was beginning. Recruited by the Privy Council as a spy whilst still at Cambridge, Marlowe had friends in the highest of places, but turned against his masters. A hellraiser and atheist, his 'monstrous opinions' outraged the authorities. Join poet-psychogeographer Niall McDevitt to hear the story of the Dutch Church Libel and how it precipitated a chain of events that led to Marlowe's murder within a month, whilst enjoying a two hour walk around the historic City of London." [Blog]
• 2. The Death of Christopher Marlowe [May 2019]: "Cut is the branch that might have grown full straight / And burned is Apollo's laurel bough [Doctor Faustus]. Marlowe's death is one of the most fascinating stories in the history of English literature. Though Marlowe was murdered by government agents in a government safehouse in Deptford Strand, it was misrepresented as a pub brawl, a myth that persists to this day. Join poet-psychogeographer Niall McDevitt for a thoroughgoing exploration of the story, and immersion in Elizabethan history, with a stunning riverside backdrop through Greenwich and Deptford." [Blog]
• Website Links: Niall McDevitt's Blog and Twitter account | The Gentle Author previews McDevitt's Marlowe Shoreditch walk | Zoamorphosis interview with Niall McDevitt.