BLENHEIM Estate will soon boast a building to rival the palace after work on a Shakespearean theatre began today.

The award-winning Rose Theatre will host four of the Bard's greatest plays over nine weeks starting from July 8.

Inspired by the original Rose Theatre in London, it will house 900 people, with 560 seated in three covered tiers and standing room for 540.

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Company Acorn Events is aiming to finish work by the end of this month, with the structure set to be situated in a lively, free-to-enter Shakespearean village.

The theatre comprises more than 30,000 cubic meters of scaffolding tubes, 1,400 square meters of metal cladding and 22,000 screws.

Between July 8 and September 7, audiences can enjoy performances of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Macbeth, Romeo & Juliet and Richard III.

Visit blenheimpalace.com/shakespearesRT for tickets.