Shakespeare’s hometown: Stratford-upon-Avon

wonder | wander | women have had many visitors over the years in London, but it's always a joyful surprise when a dear friend comes into town. We love this city and it's great to share this joy with friends who love it too. 

Dinner with friends, photo from Chris Costello

As obsessed as I am with it, London isn't the only place people come to see. Recently my friend Vida, who spent the day at Hampstead Heath with me a few years ago, came back for a visit to the UK and Ireland, and wanted to visit the birthplace of Shakespeare: Stratford-upon-Avon.

At the Stratford train station

Stratford-upon-Avon is an Elizabethan village much visited by fans of the Bard. This historic town is so out of the way that it requires two trains and almost three hours to get there - rarely any direct trains from London. At least we were able to depart from Marylebone, the prettiest train station in the city. (One day I will explore the Leamington Spa I have heard of in Regency romance novels, but for now it's only a place where we had to change trains.) 

Marylebone Train Station

We headed straight for Shakespeare's first home, but first had to stop at the two most Bard-like places we found in town: the library and the bookstore. The Stratford-upon-Avon Public Library is in a very well-preserved Elizabethan building that looks like somewhere a Disney Princess with a book obsession might visit. 

In fact the library, like many of the buildings in town, was restored and funded by famous philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. It might not have survived in its picture-perfect state if not for the novelist Maria Corelli who campaigned to save it and the string of historic houses it was attached to. As book nerds, Vida and I were very grateful.

Shakespeare's house was the house of our dreams - at least on this beautiful summer day. It was his father's house and workshop. John Shakespeare sold his leather gloves to passersby out of the window of his own workshop, a common practice since medieval times and, as our guide told us, the origin of the phrase "window shopping". 

The original Elizabethan casements, tiny shuttered squares which kept the rooms dark, have long been replaced by large Victorian windows, letting in the daylight and turning the house into something like our dream studio. 

There was even a loft above the family bedroom, large enough for a bed and a table and tall enough for us shorties to stand and walk around. Vida and I allowed ourselves to fantasise about having so much space, even as fellow tourists from the US were amazed at how the Shakespeares managed to live in such a "tiny" shared house.

The “tiny” family bedroom, with original pull-out bed!

The Elizabethans clearly had the same ideas, since Shakespeare leased the house to Lewis Hiccox who converted it into an inn called the Swan and Maidenhead. It looked very comfortable...at least until we remembered there was no central heating or running water.

The garden was a little paradise, with stone walks, well-kept lawns, and plants that were commonly cultivated in Shakespeare's time. Most of these are herbs: thyme and rosemary, verbena, fennel and oregano. We also loved the hollyhocks and topiary. Again, this is not the original but a 19th-century recreation of a 16th-century garden: a dream of history.

What a wonder to be able to walk in the footsteps of the Bard, especially with a friend who knows and loves his writings better than I do! From our faraway country we come to pay respects to this genius whose words have crossed oceans and centuries.