Stratford-upon-Avon, commonly known as just Stratford, is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district, in the county of Warwickshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It is situated on the River Avon, 91 miles (146 km) north-west of London, 22 miles (35 km) south-east of Birmingham and 8 miles (13 km) south-west of Warwick. The town is the southernmost point of the Arden area at the northern extremity of the Cotswolds. In the 2021 census Stratford had a population of 30,495.
The Royal Shakespeare Theatre (RST) is a Grade II* listed 1,040+ seat thrust stage theatre owned by the Royal Shakespeare Company dedicated to the English playwright and poet William Shakespeare. It is located in the town of Stratford-upon-Avon – Shakespeare's birthplace – in the English Midlands, beside the River Avon. The building incorporates the smaller Swan Theatre. The Royal Shakespeare and Swan Theatres re-opened in November 2010 after undergoing a major renovation known as the Transformation Project.
New Place was William Shakespeare's final place of residence in Stratford-upon-Avon. He died there in 1616. The whole building was demolished in 1702 by Sir John Clopton, who replaced it with a modern-style house, also called New Place. This in turn was demolished by Francis Gastrell, vicar of Frodsham, Cheshire, in 1759. It was never rebuilt after the second demolition and only the foundations remain.
The Collegiate Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, Stratford-upon-Avon, is a Grade I listed parish church of the Church of England in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. It is often known simply as Holy Trinity Church or as Shakespeare's Church, due to its fame as the place of baptism, marriage and burial of William Shakespeare. More than 200,000 tourists visit the church each year.
Wilmcote is a village, and since 2004 a separate civil parish, in the English county of Warwickshire, about 3 miles (5 km) north of Stratford-upon-Avon. Prior to 2004, it was part of the same parish as Aston Cantlow, and the 2001 population for the whole area was 1,670, reducing to 1,229 at the 2011 Census.
The Grammar School of King Edward VI at Stratford-upon-Avon is a grammar school and academy in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England, traditionally for boys only. However, since September 2013 the school has admitted girls into the Sixth Form. It is almost certain that William Shakespeare attended this school, leading to the school widely being described as "Shakespeare's School".
Susanna Hall was the oldest child of William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway and the older sister of twins Judith and Hamnet Shakespeare. Susanna married John Hall, a local physician, in 1607. They had one daughter, Elizabeth, in 1608. Elizabeth married Thomas Nash, son of Anthony Nash on 22 April 1626 at Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon-Avon.
Luddington is a small village and civil parish in the English county of Warwickshire and is part of Stratford-on-Avon district. The community is a conservation area due to its historic aspects. In 2001, the population was 457, increasing to 515 at the 2021 census. It is located about 5 kilometres outside the town of Stratford-upon-Avon on the banks of the river Avon and has views south over the Cotswolds. Facilities and communications include a phone box, a 19th-century church, a post box, a marina with a 17th-century lock, a village green and a recently refurbished village hall originally built in 1953. The parish encompasses Dodwell Caravan Park to the north of the village. The village is reputed to be the meeting place of Anne Hathaway and William Shakespeare, as Anne was from the parish, and local lore states that they probably conducted their courtship in the area.
Judith Quiney, née Shakespeare, was the younger daughter of William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway and the fraternal twin of their only son Hamnet Shakespeare. She married Thomas Quiney, a vintner of Stratford-upon-Avon. The circumstances of the marriage, including Quiney's misconduct, may have prompted the rewriting of Shakespeare's will. Thomas was struck out, while Judith's inheritance was attached with provisions to safeguard it from her husband. The bulk of Shakespeare's estate was left, in an elaborate fee tail, to his elder daughter Susanna and her male heirs.
Thomas Quiney was the husband of William Shakespeare's daughter Judith Shakespeare, and a vintner and tobacconist in Stratford-upon-Avon. Quiney held several municipal offices in the corporation of Stratford-upon-Avon, the highest being chamberlain in 1621 and 1622, but was also fined for various minor offences.
Elizabeth, Lady Bernard was the granddaughter of the English poet, playwright and actor William Shakespeare. Despite two marriages, she had no children, and was the last surviving descendant of Shakespeare.
Hall's Croft is a building in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England, which was owned by William Shakespeare's daughter, Susanna Hall, and her husband Dr John Hall whom she married in 1607.
The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust (SBT) is an independent registered educational charity based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England, that came into existence in 1847 following the purchase of William Shakespeare's birthplace for preservation as a national memorial. It can also lay claim to be the oldest conservation society in Britain. Receiving no government funding or public subsidies, it is totally dependent upon the public for support, and relies on donations and the income generated from visitors.
Dr. Levi Fox OBE, DL, MA, FSA, FRHistS, FRSL, was the son of a Leicestershire smallholder. He became Archivist for the city of Coventry and then Director of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, and was a conservationist, local historian, and author.
Shakespeare's Birthplace is a restored 16th-century half-timbered house situated on Henley Street, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England, where it is believed that William Shakespeare was born in 1564 and spent his childhood years. It is now a small museum open to the public and a popular visitor attraction, owned and managed by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.
The Shakespeare Club of Stratford-upon-Avon is a society based in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, that celebrates the life and literary works of William Shakespeare. It is the oldest Shakespeare society in the world, having been in existence since 1824. It now meets monthly between October and May at the Shakespeare Institute, for a series of lectures on a wide range of Shakespeare-related subjects.
Stratford's Historic Spine is the name given to a route in Stratford-upon-Avon along which many of the town's most important and historic buildings are sited, with many of the buildings connected to William Shakespeare. The Historic Spine was once the main route from the town centre to the parish church. It begins in Henley Street at Shakespeare's Birthplace and finishes in Old Town at The Holy Trinity Church and has buildings from the 14th up to the 20th centuries.
The Guild Chapel of the Holy Cross, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire is a chapel of 13th-century origins. Founded by the Guild of the Holy Cross before 1269, it passed into the control of the town corporation in 1553, when the Guild was suppressed by Edward VI. The chapel stands on Church Street, opposite the site of William Shakespeare's home, New Place, and has historic connections to Shakespeare's family. The chapel was gifted an extensive series of wall-paintings by Hugh Clopton, an earlier owner of New Place, and John Shakespeare, Shakespeare's father, undertook their defacement in the later 1500s. The paintings have recently been conserved.
Stratford-upon-Avon Guildhall is a historic building in Church Street, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. It is a Grade I listed building. Dating from the early 15th century, the Guildhall was for centuries at the centre of life in Stratford, being used for assemblies, as a meeting place for the local council, and as a school building for the King Edward VI School. Most famously William Shakespeare almost certainly attended school here. The building was opened to the public in 2016, after being restored.
Stratford-upon-Avon Town Hall is a municipal building in Sheep Street, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. It is a Grade II* listed building.
