Description

STRATFORD-UPON-AVON

SP2055SW HENLEY STREET
604-1/8/111 (North East side)
25/10/51 Shakespeare's Birthplace

GV I

Town house, now museum. Late C15 and late C16, severely
restored 1858, following drawing of 1769. Timber-frame and
with plaster infill; rubble plinth; tile roof with rubble
stacks. 4-unit plan.
2 storeys with attic; 4-window range. The facade to the right
half is mostly C19 replacing c1800 brick refronting. 3
entrances with wide-boarded doors, a pair to left end have
pentice continued over flanking windows and with central
gablet; entrance to right end unit. Wood-mullioned projecting
windows, mostly C19: ground floor has 1:3:1-light bay window
and 4-light windows; 1st floor has two 4-light windows with
3-light window to left end and 1:3:1-light oriel with hipped
roof and moulded base to right end; attic has 2 gabled dormers
with 4-light windows and gable to right end with 3-light
window; all windows with leaded glazing, 1st-floor window to
left of centre has plastic protective screen. Small panel of
exposed wattle to left of centre. End stack and stack to rear
wing. Rear has gabled wing with similar details.
INTERIOR: stop-chamfered beams and original timber-framing;
signs of through-passage to right end bay; back-to-back
fireplaces with stop-chamfered Tudor-arched bressumers; left
end originally separate, with fireplace with bressumer and
timber-framed smoke hood with winding stair to side. C20 stair
to right of centre; 1st floor has exposed roof trusses and
wind braces to right end; birth room to left of centre has
ceiling, window inscribed with names of visitors including
famous people eg Sir Walter Scott, signatures to walls and
ceiling now covered with whitewash. Rear wing has kitchen with
large fireplace and battened door; 1st floor has tie-beam and
collar truss, the tie cut for round-headed doorway.
HISTORICAL NOTE: William Shakespeare born here April 23, 1564.
His father John lived here c1551-1601, the right end unit
probably being his wool shop. The house passed to the Hart
family, descended from Shakespeare's sister, until 1794, and
was a tourist attraction from the 1740s or before. It was
bought by the Shakespeare Birthplace Committee for
preservation as a national monument in 1847. A museum in care
of the Birthplace Trust.
(VCH (offprint): Styles P: The Borough of Stratford-upon-Avon
and the Parish of Alveston: London: 1946-: 15; Fogg N:
Stratford-upon-Avon: Portrait of a Town: Chichester: 1986-:
104-6, 119, 133, 145; Buildings of England: Pevsner N:
Warwickshire: London: 1966-: 417; Bearman R:
Stratford-upon-Avon: A History of its Streets and Buildings:
Nelson: 1988-: 37).

Listing NGR: SP2003955142

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Shakespeare's Birthplace at Wikipedia
• Shakespeare's Birthplace official website
• Wikidata Q1770409

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Georgian Style and Design for Contemporary Living
• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of History Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas
• 
  Sussex: West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Pevsner's Architectural Glossary (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  Northamptonshire: Buildings of England Series (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Berkshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)