The theatre was built by the carpenter John Griggs. The new building was of timber, with a lath and plaster exterior and thatch roof. In shape it was a fourteen-sided polygon, of about in external diameter. The inner space was also a fourteen-sided polygon, about wide. Modern calculations show that the dimensions and fourteen-sided layout were dictated by the use of the standard 16th-century measure of one rod as a base and the carpenter's "rule of thumb" method of dividing a circle into seven equal parts, subdivided.