Ann Hathaway's Cottage

The thatched family farm home of William Shakespeare's wife. A delightfully abundant and picturesque typical English cottage flower and vegetable garden dating from the end of the 19th century and planted in the former farmyard. An adjacent garden has a maze and labelled examples of trees mentioned in the Works of The Bard.

Shakespeare's Birthplace

This half-timbered house where the dramatist, poet and playwright William Shakespeare was born was bought as a national memorial in 1847 but it has been a place of pilgrimage for nearly 300 years. Today it is approached through a modern visitors' centre and through the garden in which are trees, plants, herbs and flowers mentioned in Shakespeare's works.

The house itself contains Elizabethan and Jacobean furnishings, including a 16th century desk from Shakespeare's school and a cupboard of boxes used when his father was serving on the Stratford upon Avon Town Council. Family rooms have been faithfully recreated with furniture, utensils, wall hangings and food of the period. There are also a recreation of the glovemaker's workshop of William's father John, an exhibition illustrating the Bard's life and career in Stratford and London, and the history of the property. You can see the signatures of famous visitors cut in the windowpanes.

Glossary