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Nash's House And New Place, Warwickshire

Towards the end of his life Shakespeare spent £75 buying a house called New Place in Stratford, where he planned to go into semi retirement. £75 was a considerable amount of money at the time, and illustrates the rewards Shakespeare had won over his long, hardworking career in the tough world of show business. When Shakespeare started out as an actor there was no acting profession to speak of. Without the protection of a rich patron, an actor risked being charged with vagrancy and thrown into prison. His parents must have thought he was throwing his life away. By the time Shakespeare retired to Stratford he was a rich man, and theatre had been reinvented.

The original house was demolished in 1759, being replaced with a house known today as Nash's House. A surviving plan seems to indicate that New Place was a timbered house, fronting Chapel Street as Nash's House does today. Behind there was a group of buildings surrounding a courtyard, in the centre of which was a well. The well is still there. Some foundations and cellars of the original house have also survived. There are period furnishings, and displays on Stratford's history. There is also The Complete Works of Shakespeare Exhibition. In the garden is a mulberry tree grown from a cutting of an earlier tree thought to have been planted by Shakespeare.

Shakespeare died on 23rd April 1616 at New Place. It's only a short walk from Shakespeare's Birthplace to Nash's House, but Shakespeare came a long way in moving between the two.

 

 

Address: Nash's House and New Place, Chapel Street, Stratford-upon-Avon CV37 6EP

Directions: Nash's House/New Place is in Chapel Lane in the centre of Stratford. Click here for an interactive map centred on Nash's House/New Place.

Opening Times: June to August Monday to Saturday 9.30am - 5pm, Sunday 10am - 5pm

April, May, September and October 11am - 5pm, daily

November to March 11am - 4pm daily.

Access: The garden and the ground floor of the house are accessible to wheelchair users. Adapted toilet facilities are available. There is wheelchair access to cafe and gift shop.

Contact:

telephone: 01789 292325

web site: http://houses.shakespeare.org.uk/nashs-house.html

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