Anne Hathaway's Cottage.
N 52° 11.434 W 001° 43.875
30U E 586728 N 5782992
Anne Hathaway's Cottage.
Beautiful thatched farmhouse, and childhood home of Shakespeare's wife.
Waymark Code: WM45NF
Location: West Midlands, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 07/11/2008
Views: 48
William Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway in 1582, her family home was in the hamlet of Shottery a mile from the centre of Stratford-upon-Avon.
Anne was the daughter of a yeoman farmer who died in 1581 bequeathing his daughter £6 13s 4d on the day of her marriage.
The description of cottage does not do justice to the Hathaway home, which was actually a substantial twelve roomed Elizabethan farmhouse, the lower part was built in the early 1460's and subsequently extended in about 1623.
The cottage belonged to the Hathaway family until 1892, when it was bought, along with furnishings, by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.
The Trust restored it to it's original character, removing the Victorian items that the Hathaway family had gathered. The original open hearth fireplace was restored to it's former glory.
Beside the fireplace is an old wooden settle, upon which it is believed that William Shakespeare courted Anne Hathaway. In 1969 the cottage was severely damaged by fire, but was successfully reclaimed once again by The Birthplace Trust.
The cottage was part of Hewlands Farm in Shakespeare's day with over ninety acres of land attached to it.
The present cottage retains its own beautiful, old fashioned English garden with an orchard adjoining, all carefully maintained by the Trust.
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