Anne Hathaway's Cottage

The most romantic of all the Shakespearean properties, is Anne Hathaway's Cottage, which lies in the beautiful hamlet of Shottery, just outside Stratford-Upon-Avon. This is where Anne Hathaway spent her childhood and youth. The cottage can still be reached by the footpaths over the fields, as it was in Shakespeare's time, when he came to court his future wife. William Shakespeare and Anne were married in 1582.

Today it is called a cottage, but in the sixteenth century it was a substantial farmhouse, known as Hewlands. The cottage was owned, and lived in by the Hathaway family and their descendants, until the late nineteenth century, when it was purchased by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. Nestling under a deep thatched roof, built mainly of brick and half timbered, the cottage dates from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, but inside is the oldest part of the building, a pair of curved oak beams or crucks pegged together at the top, they were erected in 1463. This was one of the earliest methods of construction used in this country. The interior, little changed over the centuries is a pure delight. Here you will find the original panelling and open hearth in the living room, or hall as it was called then. In the kitchen you can still see the old bake oven and other interesting features here and in the dairy, or buttery.

The cottage is furnished throughout with pieces authentic to the period, several of which belonged to the family. Upstairs in the main bed chamber is the wonderful old four poster, known as the Hathaway Bed, which dates from Anne's time. There are five further rooms, which would have been used as bed rooms, or for storage, one may have been used to store the fruit grown in the orchard next to the house.

This very special English cottage, is set in a beautiful garden, where you will enjoy a relaxing stroll amid the old fashioned perfumed flowers and herbs evocative of old England. Next to the House is the orchard with a picnic area, There is also a tea room and restaurant near by. If the weather and your schedule permit, why not enjoy the idyllic countryside a little longer, by taking a walk through the Shakespeare tree garden, or relax by the brook near the Jubilee Walk.