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This house in Henley Street, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, was identified as the birthplace of Shakespeare before 1759 when it was marked on the first street plan of the town. This engraving was published in 1769, celebrating David Garrick’s Shakespeare Jubilee, the event which marked the real beginning of Shakespeare-related tourism. It was the first house in the UK to be associated with any creative artist, and became the first literary shrine.

In 1847 the house came up for auction, being described in the sale poster as “a truly heart-stirring relic”, and “the most honoured monument of the greatest genius that ever lived”. Shakespeare himself was described as “England’s Immortal Bard”.

The house was purchased by public subscription for the then enormous sum of £3000 for preservation as a national memorial to the dramatist, and the organisation which became the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust was created to administer it. By 1853-4 visitor numbers had reached 2878 people. It now welcomes many thousands of visitors from all over the world every year.

The house and its exhibition on the Life and Background of Shakespeare are still essential stops on any Shakespeare-lover’s tour of England.

Category: People , Place

Institute: Shakespeare Birthplace Trust