Stratford-Upon-Avon

My Shakespeare class went on a field study to Stratford-Upon-Avon last Sunday (Oct 16)! It was definitely one of my most highly-anticipated trips and I was not disappointed.

We left early (6:30am!) because it's a four-hour drive from the castle to Stratford. There's only four of us in the class, plus the professor, so we went in one of the castle minibuses.

The first place we went to was the house Shakespeare grew up in, which was also where he lived for the first few years of his marriage to Anne Hathaway (he was only 18 when he married her). There was a great multimedia exhibit in an adjoining building, with videos, models, artifacts, images etc that told the story of Shakespeare's life and times. We weren't allowed pictures inside the house unfortunately, and it was hard to get a good picture of the outside because it was actually quite large!

The rooms inside were recreated to look like they would have in Shakespeare's time- parlour, kitchen, bedroom, and also Shakespeare's father's glove-making workshop on the ground floor.

Shakespeare's birthplace

Shakespeare's birthplace

We got to see the central area of Stratford as we walked between the various sites we visited. The streets were already decked out in Christmas garlands! Lots of shops have Shakespeare-inspired names, either characters' names or just throwing in the word Shakespeare.

central Stratford

central Stratford

by the arts centre

it's everywhere!

Next we went to Nash's House and New Place. Again, photos weren't allowed, so I don't have any of Nash's House. New Place is the house that Shakespeare lived in after he moved out of his birthplace, and is also where he died. Unfortunately, New Place was torn down during a taxation dispute by a subsequent owner. Nash's House is next door to New Place, and was the home of Shakespeare's granddaughter Elizabeth and her first husband, Thomas Nash.

Currently, there's an archaeological dig going on at the New Place site, so after we went through Nash's House we walked next door to see it:

We also went to nearby Hall's Croft, the former home of Shakespeare's daughter Susanna and her husband, who was a doctor. Again no photos allowed unfortunately, but here's one of the outside:

Our last stop was Holy Trinity Church, to see Shakespeare's grave. Near the end of his life, he was the church warden, so he was able to secure a prime burial spot inside the church, right in front of the high altar. Most of his close family is buried next to him: his wife Anne, daughter Susanna, Susanna's husband, granddaughter Elizabeth, and Elizabeth's husband. Missing is his daughter Judith, who married a man Shakespeare didn't like, and Judith's twin Hamnet. Hamnet died at age 11, before Shakespeare had gained enough money and status to procure such a prime burial spot, so Hamnet was buried in the churchyard outside, and his grave has since been lost.

approaching Holy Trinity Church 

churchyard at Holy Trinity

church spire

Shakespeare's grave! His epitaph includes his famous
curse: "Blessed be the man that spares these stones/
And cursed be he that moves my bones". So far
it's worked, and his grave has never been touched!

Class picture with our professor

We had a nice trip back, stopping to buy a quick dinner along the way. The sky was so pretty at the place we stopped that I couldn't resist taking a picture: