Level 3 gallery, Phase II © De Montfort University, Leicester, UK. To view the image using Google Cardboard, click here.

It has been questioned whether the Rose playhouse had a third level of galleries (see 4.4). However, in the model for Phase II a third tier has been added. The spaces within the upper most level of the tiring house including the gable have been given over to use as storage, gable machinery, and the trap in the ‘heavens’.

The upper level tiring-house (left) and view from the upper gallery (right)

The bays either side have been left open fronted for use by audience, although sightlines must surely have been compromised.

Alternatively, the bays to the left and right could easily have been enclosed in order to dedicate the entire upper floor space and under-gable area for storage and an office, for example.

Fig. 107: Tiring-house, Level 3387

[387] Adaptation of original image in Bowsher and Miller, The Rose and the Globe, 125.