Welcome to Shakespeare Country
Visit the world famous house where William Shakespeare was born in 1564 and where he grew up. The property remained in the ownership of the family until 1806. The house has welcomed visitors paying homage to the work of the Bard, travelling from all over the world, for well over 250 years.
Opening Times
20 Mar to 19 Oct
Mon to Sat: 9:00am to 5:00pm
Sun: 9:30am to 5:00pm
20 Oct to 19 Mar
Mon to Sat: 9:30am to 4:00pm
Sun: 10:00am to 4:00pm

Theatre
Thousands of Visitors flock to Stratford every year to enjoy performances at one of the worlds most famous venues - the Royal Shakespeare theatre. The Royal Shakespeare Theatre Company has three theatres in Stratford: the Royal Shakespeare Theatre (RST), the Swan theatre and the other place. The towns first theatre dedicated to showing shakespeares work was Shakespeares Memorial Theatre, opened in 1879. The Victorian Gothic building was funded by a national campiagn launched by local brewer Charles Edward Flower, who donated the land for the theatre. The theatre seated 800 people but initially the season was limited to a week long festival, featuring such stars as Ellen Terry. However this grew into spring and summer seasons lasting almost two months, with nationwide tours between. Now seasons run at Stratford throughout the year, with a short break for the visitors season in September.

In 1925 the theatre was granted a royal charter but only a year later the theatre was destroyed in a mysterious fire. A world wide campaign was launched to fund a new theatre. In 1932 the present building, designed by 29 year old architect Elisabeth Scott, was opened.