Plaque

National Theatre foundation - 1951

Erection date: 13/7/1951

Inscription

To the living memory of William Shakespeare on a site provided by the London County Council in conformity with the National Theatre Act MCMXLIX {1949} and in the year of the Festival of Britain this foundation stone for The National Theatre was laid on XIII July MCMLI {13/7/1951} by Her Majesty the Queen.

British Pathe have film of this ceremony: The Queen Mum looks pretty experienced with a cement trowel and stone hammer, while the then Princess Elizabeth holds the flowers. Annoyingly one can't see exactly where the stone is being laid, annoying because it was in the wrong place and had to be quietly moved a year later. It was, we believe, somewhere on the site of the present Hayward Gallery, QE Hall and Purcell Room.

Site: National Theatre foundation stones (3 memorials)

SW1, Belvedere Road, National Theatre

This group of plaques is in the ground floor seating area.

This section lists the subjects commemorated on the memorial on this page:
National Theatre foundation - 1951

Subjects commemorated i

National Theatre

First proposed in 1848, the gestation of the NT is complex (see the NT's own ...

Festival of Britain

'A tonic for the Nation', The Festival was intended to cheer us all up after ...

London County Council

Prior to the LCC London matters were run by church parishes. The LCC was the ...

William Shakespeare

Born and died in Stratford-upon-Avon. His birth date is usually given as the ...

This section lists the subjects who helped to create/erect the memorial on this page:
National Theatre foundation - 1951

Created by i

Queen Elizabeth II

Born 17 Bruton Street, to the Duke and Duchess of York. For information on wh...

Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother

In 1923 Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (descended from the Royal House of Scotland...

This section lists the other memorials at the same location as the memorial on this page:
National Theatre foundation - 1951

Also at this site i

National Theatre foundation - 1976

The National Theatre, opened by the Queen on 25 October 1976, designed for th...

National Theatre foundation - 1988

{Around Her head:} HM Queen Elizabeth Patron Royal National Theatre This pla...

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