Absolute Touring

Hall's Croft - home to Shakespeare's daughter Susannah

• England's greatest dramatist and poet dominates Stratford
• William Shakespeare was born on or about 23 April 1564 in Henley Street – now the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, where the garden is planted with trees flowers and herbs mentioned in Shakespeare's works
• His father John was a glover and wool dealer; his mother Mary Arden was a farmer's daughter – her house is in the village of Wilmcote
• Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway in 1582 – her thatched cottage is in Shottery
• In 1597 he bought New Place, a house built by Hugh Clopton, a merchant who became Lord Mayor of London in 1492, and whose greatest gift to his town was the many-arched stone bridge that still carries traffic over the Avon
• The house was demolished in 1759 but the foundations now form part of the garden beside Nash's House, named for the husband of Shakespeare's grand-daughter Elizabeth
• Shakespeare died at New Place in 1616, on his 52nd birthday. He is buried in Holy Trinity Church, close to the River Avon
• Harvard House, in High Street, was the home of Katherine Rogers, mother of John Harvard, whose bequest made possible the foundation of Harvard University. Built in 1596 it is a fine example of an Elizabethan town house

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Approx 1 hour northwest of Oxford.