Bookable
An Apollonaut travel guide
The place behind the plays.
A glove maker’s house, an inn and a building saved by public subscription offer several ways into the story of Shakespeare’s Birthplace.
On this page
The Shakespeare family
John Shakespeare lived and worked in the house on Henley Street, making gloves and dealing in wool. His son William is believed to have been born here in 1564 and to have grown up here.
After William’s death in 1616, his sister Joan Hart lived in part of the house, and her descendants owned it until 1806.
Saved by public subscription
When the house was offered for sale in 1846, a public campaign raised £3,000, and the house was bought in 1847. It was restored between 1857 and 1864, and the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, formed from the committee in 1891, has cared for it since.
The Shakespeare Centre beside it, opened in 1964, is the Trust’s headquarters and the way in for visitors.
A listed building
Shakespeare’s Birthplace has been a Grade I listed building since 1951.
This history belongs to the place and the people who shaped it. The History page offers a longer introduction, and the timeline gives a short route through selected milestones.
Read at the source
Sources & further reading
Links lead to the original publishers.
