News: Your Bard

This year marks the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death. Stratford-upon-Avon – the town where he was born, schooled, died and is buried – is celebrating the writer with a series of projects.

In April, the Schoolroom and Guildhall will open. The 15th century Guildhall has been restored with a lottery grant, providing public access to the schoolroom where young William learned to read and write.

An exhibition will detail Tudor school life, evoking the writer’s own image of the schoolboy ‘creeping like a snail unwillingly to school’. The public opening provides the missing link in the story of William  Shakespeare in Stratford.

The site of New Place – Shakespeare’s Stratford home that was demolished in 1759 by irascible clergyman Francis Gastrell – is being re-displayed for the anniversary. The foundations of the kitchens and cellars will be on view for the first time and the sunken Knot Garden will be restored to the original design alongside the Great Garden. Opening in June, this attraction features a dynamic new exhibition that follows Shakespeare’s life in his Stratford home.

See our Blue Badge Guided tour of Stratford.