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The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust

The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust is the world’s leading charity in promoting the works, life and times of William Shakespeare. The Trust offers a unique Shakespeare centered experience with outstanding archive and library collections, inspiring educational and literary event programs and five wonderful houses all directly relating to Shakespeare. As an independent charity the Trust receives no public subsidy or direct government funding. The Trust depends entirely on income generated through their supporters: their visitors, volunteers, donors and Friends.

The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust’s History
The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust was formed in 1847 following the purchase of Shakespeare’s Birthplace as a national memorial.

The role of the Trust grew with the purchase in 1876 of Shakespeare’s New Place estate, comprising the site of Shakespeare’s grand final home and Nash’s House (the home of Thomas Nash and Shakespeare’s grand-daughter Elizabeth).

The Trust purchased Anne Hathaway’s Cottage, the girlhood home of Shakespeare’s wife, in 1892 and Mary Arden’s House was purchased in 1930.

The last house to be acquired was Hall’s Croft, the home of Shakespeare’s daughter Susanna and her husband, physician Dr John Hall, in 1949.

In 1964 to celebrate the four hundredth anniversary of Shakespeare’s birth the Trust threw open the doors of its new headquarters and study facility, the Shakespeare Centre.  This distinctive building provides a home for the Trust’s extensive Shakespeare Centre library and archive (including the RSC archive). The second part of this project, an extension including facilities for the Trust's educational and cultural work and a visitor centre for Shakespeare’s Birthplace, was added in 1981.

In addition to the Shakespeare Houses, the Trust cares for Harvard House on behalf of the Harvard House Memorial Trust.
 

Terms of use

The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust has graciously contributed images under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommerical ShareAlike 4.0 International license.  Visitors may download, link to and cite the images for personal research only. Any further use, including, but not limited to, unauthorized downloading or distribution of the images, commercial or third party use, is strictly prohibited. Visitors must contact the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust to request additional use, at: images.scla@shakespeare.org.uk

Documents contributed by The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust

January 22, 1613
A conveyance deed for a house in Henley Street describes William Shakespeare’s house (now the Birthplace) as adjoining it on the north-west
John Shakespeare’s property in Henley Street, inherited by his son William in 1601, and now known as the Birthplace, had a frontage of about 90 feet. When an urban property changed hands, its boundaries were often defined by reference to neighboring properties.
Summer of 1614
The Stratford Corporation’s chamberlain, in his annual account records the payment of 20 pence for a quart of sack and a quart of claret wine "geven to a precher at the newe place"
Stratford’s Corporation chamberlains presented their annual accounts, covering payments from the previous twelve months, in January each year. Although individual payments are usually undated, it can be assumed they were entered broadly in chronological order.
September 5, 1614
William Shakespeare’s holding of yardlands is included in a list made by Thomas Greene of freeholders’ lands in Old Stratford and Welcombe, appended to an earlier survey of leaseholders’ lands in the same area
In late August/early September 1614, it became generally known that plans were afoot to enclose some of the open fields at Welcombe, to the northeast of Stratford.
October 28, 1614
William Shakespeare reaches an agreement with William Replingham to safeguard his income as a leaseholder of the tithes in case of enclosure
Within two months of it becoming common knowledge that plans were afoot to enclose some of the open fields at Welcombe to the north-east of Stratford, Shakespeare took steps to ensure that his income as a leaseholder of half the tithes of Old Stratford, Bishopton and Welco
November 17, 1614 - September 1615
Thomas Greene’s notes on the progress of the proposed enclosures at Welcombe include five references to William Shakespeare’s involvement
Thomas Greene, the Corporation’s steward, recorded in some detail the events associated with the contentious proposals to enclose some of the open fields at Welcombe.

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