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Stratford-on-Avon
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The Shakespearean Properties
in Stratford-upon-Avon
The information
presented on the Stratford pages is based on the Stratford-upon-Avon
Street Map & Guide
SHAKESPEARE'S
BIRTHPLACE
Henley Street, Stratford-upon-Avon
Tel: 01789 204016
Web: www.shakespeare.org.uk
Opening times:
Open daily. April to October, 9am-5pm and November to March, 10am-4pm.
The Shakespeare family home was typical of many early 16th century buildings in Stratford. The oak timbers were brought from the Forest of Arden, while the blue-grey stone for the chimney was quarried at Wilmcote. The part of the house where William was born on 23rd April 1564 contains beautiful furniture from the period, including a cradle, and an ingenious baby-minder. On the windowpanes in the birth-room, some famous visitors including Sir Walter Scott have signed their names.
The best view of the outside of the house is from the garden, which contains plants mentioned by Shakespeare in his plays.
Entry to the Birthplace is through the Visitor Centre. Open Wheelchair access to the ground floor only. Gift shop.
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ANNE
HATHAWAY'S COTTAGE
Cottage Lane, Shottery, Stratford-upon-Avon
Tel: 01789 204016
Web: www.shakespeare.org.uk
Opening times:
Open daily. April to October, 9am-5pm and November to March, 10am-4pm.
Before it became famous for its associations with William Shakespeare, this picturesque thatched cottage was known as Hewlands Farm, the home of a prosperous farmer, Richard Hathaway and his family. In 1582, Richard’s daughter Anne married William Shakespeare. A pair of curved oak timbers inside the house show that the earliest parts were built during the 15th century, but it dates mostly from the 16th and 17th centuries. The twelve rooms including a kitchen, living-room, buttery, and six bedrooms have changed very little since Anne’s day, and many items of period furniture on show belonged to the Hathaway family. The old-fashioned garden and orchard contain the Shakespeare Tree Garden and Jubilee Walk.
Wheelchair access is limited to parts of the garden only. Refreshments
are provided in the Tea Garden in the summer.
Gift shop.
The cottage is
accessible from Stratford on foot (about 1 mile from Stratford town centre), or on a Tour bus.
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MARY ARDEN'S
Wilmcote, Near Stratford-upon-Avon
Tel: 01789 204016
Web: www.shakespeare.org.uk
Opening times:
Open daily. April to October, 10am-5pm and November to March, 10am-4pm.
This site includes two attractive Tudor buildings; the childhood home of William's mother Mary Arden and the neighbouring Palmer's Farm. New for 2007 - Palmer's Farm has been transformed into a working Tudor farm where visitors can step back into the sixteenth-century and engage with authentically dressed interpreters who are carrying out tasks Shakespeare would have been familiar with: preparing food, cooking on the great open fire, washing clothes, baking bread, making candles, fetching water, milking cows and cultivating vegetables. Take a walk on the nature trail and track down the rare breeds of farm animals, including the majestic Longhorn cattle, Cotswold sheep, the beautiful Buff Orpington chickens and Gloucester Old Spot pigs.
Wheelchair access to most areas, except upper floor of house. Refreshments.
Gift shop. Picnic Area.
The property is accessible from Stratford by train,
bus, or on a Tour bus.
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HALL'S
CROFT
Old Town, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire.
Tel: 01789 204016
Web: www.shakespeare.org.uk
Opening times:
Open daily. April to October, 10am-5pm and November to March, 11am-4pm.
This lovely Tudor building was the home of Dr John Hall and his wife Susanna, Shakespeare’s eldest daughter. Dr Hall was a respected local physician with some important and wealthy patients including the Earl and Countess of Northampton. Hall’s Croft contains fine examples of Elizabethan and Jacobean furniture and an exhibition about Tudor medicine and John Hall’s medical career. The beautiful walled garden with its mulberry tree and poplars captures the atmosphere of a traditional English garden.
Wheelchair access to ground floor and garden.
Refreshments are available
in the Tea Room.
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NEW
PLACE AND NASH'S HOUSE
Chapel Street, Stratford-upon-Avon
Tel: 01789 204016
Web: www.shakespeare.org.uk
Opening times:
Open daily. April to October, 10am-5pm and November to March, 11am-4pm.
Nash’s House, adjoining the site of New Place, was the home of Elizabeth Hall (Shakespeare’s granddaughter) who married Thomas Nash. The attractive 16th century building, furnished in Tudor and Jacobean style, houses Stratford’s local history museum.
William Shakespeare bought New Place as a home for his wife and children in 1597, while he was working as an actor in London. He retired to Stratford in 1610 and died here on 23rd April 1616. Many visitors came to see the last home of Shakespeare, and the Mulberry tree, claimed to be a cutting from one which Shakespeare planted. A later owner of New Place, the Reverend Gastrell, was so annoyed at the intrusions that he felled the tree and in 1759 demolished the house. The foundations of this once impressive house can still be seen. The Great Garden of New Place marks the site of Shakespeare’s own orchard and kitchen garden, and contains many of the plants that may have been grown here during his lifetime. Box and yew hedges embrace colourful spills of flowers, and the ancient mulberry tree, grown from a cutting of Shakespeare’s tree, rests in a quiet corner of the lawn. An Elizabethan style knott garden created with low trimmed hedges of box, hyssop and other herbs, is especially breathtaking during the spring when wallflowers, tulips and forget-me-nots create a glowing tapestry of colour.
New for 2009—The Web of Life exhibition—glimpses into the life of William Shakespeare through treasures and artefacts from the collections.
Wheelchair access to ground floor and part of the garden. Entry to New
Place and the gardens is through Nash's House.
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Further
information on the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust and the houses under its
care can be found on their website.
For further
information about Stratford-upon-Avon, including a free visitor pack,
please contact the Stratford-upon-Avon Tourist
Information Centre.
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