We recently visited Stratford-Upon-Avon for a Christmas
break, and while I was there I suddenly realised that I hadn’t yet blogged
about the town. Given it is the
birthplace of the greatest writer ever to grace these shores, the playwright
William Shakespeare, this is an unforgiveable omission from a blog about
Britain’s film, TV and literary associations, so with this piece I hope to
rectify my oversight.
This being the town where the great Bard was born, the main
attraction is Shakespeare’s Birthplace, a quaint half-timbered house in the
centre of town, looking rather out of place nowadays among all the trendy
cafes, restaurants and chain stores. It
was here that Will was born on 26 April 1564, and visitors to the birthplace
can view the room he was born in, the third of eight children. His parents, John and Mary Shakespeare, were
wealthy enough to own the largest property on Henley Street.
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| Shakespeare Birthplace |
But the birthplace is by no means the only Shakespeare-related
attraction. The local tourist board
makes the most of the Shakespeare connection by adding a host of other attractions with Shakespeare
connections which are open to visitors.
Shakespeare’s mother Mary Arden brought the Bard up on a farm now known
as Mary Arden’s Farm, which can be found in the village of Wilmcote to the
north-west of Stratford. Between 1597 and
his death in 1616, Shakespeare lived in New Place in Chapel Street, at the time
the second largest house in Stratford and now known as Shakespeare’s New Place. The house has been turned into a
museum with an Elizabethan garden.
Not only Will himself, but his wife and daughter have
contributed to the array of tourist attractions in the area. At the western edge of town is Anne Hathaway’s Cottage, a charming half-timbered thatched cottage which was the family home of
Shakespeare’s wife. His daughter Susanna
lived in a Jacobean home called Hall’s Croft with her physician husband. This can be found near the river in an area
in the south of Stratford known as Old Town.
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Anne Hathaway's Cottage, Stratford-Upon-Avon. Photo by C5clive, via Wikimedia Commons.
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Finally, no visit to Stratford would be complete without a visit
to Holy Trinity Church, an imposing medieval church occupying a beautiful
riverside location with its spire dominating the riverscape. The church contains Shakespeare’s grave as
well as his baptism and burial records.
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Shakespeare's Grave
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