Stratford-Upon-Avon, Shakespeare’s Town, is a Civil Parish and Market Town in the English County of Warwickshire
Stratford-upon-Avon, the birthplace of William Shakespeare, is a civil parish and market town in Warwickshire, England. It is located along the River Avon and is 8 miles south-west of Warwick, 22 miles south-east of Birmingham and 101 miles north-west of London. Before the advent of road and rail, the town was the portal to the British canal system.
The original inhabitants of the town were the Anglo-Saxons. It has remained a village until John of Coutances, the lord of the manor, decided to make in into a town in 1196. King Richard, I granted Stratford a charter to hold a weekly market in the same year. This gave the town the status of a market town which brought with it urban expansion and an increase in commerce and trade.
Things to See and Do in Stratford-upon-Avon
At present, Stratford is a popular tourist destination, and the main attraction is the home of the English poet and playwright, William Shakespeare. It is also the home of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre where the Royal Shakespeare Company resides. The town is considered “a mecca for all lovers of literature.”
Stratford’s Historic Spine, once the main road from the town centre to the church, is where most of the town’s oldest and most famous buildings are located. The path starts at the house where Shakespeare was born on Henley Street and continues to the top end of Bridge Street to proceed to High Street. Several Elizabethan buildings such as Harvard House are located along High Street. The path then continues to Chapel Street where Shakespeare’s final place of residence called the New Place is located as well as the house next to it called Nash’s House. Then the path proceeds along Church Street, the site of the Guild buildings which date back to the 15th Century, and some 18th and 19th Century properties. It ends in Old Town where the Holy Cross Trinity Church and Hall’s Croft are found.