A WALK FROM STRATFORD TO
ANNE HATHAWAY'S COTTAGE
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One mile from Stratford, across what were originally fields, lies the hamlet (small village) of Shottery, and the home of Anne Hathaway, Shakespeare's sweet-heart and wife. There is a footpath from Stratford to Shottery.
Walking to the far end of the Market Place, you come to Evesham Place, a road with Guest Houses all along it. The entrance to the footpath to Anne Hathaway's cottage is just beyond the Woodstock Guest House. |
| There is a straight direct path to Shottery. |  |
| The path passes through a modern housing estate, and crosses a couple of minor roads, but the direction is always straight on, and well signposted. |  |
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We come to a large open playing field, and the tarmac path crosses straight ahead, to the far corner.
This large field effectively separates Stratford from Shottery. |  |
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Eventually we come to a branch in the path. Either way will take you to Anne Hathaway's Cottage.
The left hand path is is signposted "Anne Hathaway's Cottage Via Shottery". The right hand route is slightly more direct, but less interesting. In this walk, we'll take the left hand path, which passes through Shottery village before arriving at the cottage. |  |
| This route passes by some attractive cottages. |  |
| The cottages at far end of this block are thatched. |  |
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Whichever path was followed at the first branch, both paths lead to this cross roads.
There is another branch here. The most pleasant route is to go up the steps on the opposite corner. |  |
| Approaching the cottage itself, the path runs besides the Shottery Brook, where mallards still play. |  |
| From the path we get our first romantic glimpse of the cottage, located in what seems like a grove of trees. |  |
| We cross the little footbridge over the Shottery Brook. |  |
 This image reproduced by kind permission of The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust |  This old photograph, taken in 1892, is near the spot where two of the photos above were taken.  Copies of this picture, and other old photographs, are for sale in the cottage gift shop.
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The Hathaways have lived in this house since 1470.
The house contains his bed that has been there for 400 years. There are the tables, chairs and kitchen utensils, as Shakespeare would have known them. This is the most intimate part of Shakespeare's world that remains until this day, as he knew it. |
| It is not known what the garden looked like in Shakespeare's time, but today the garden is packed with cottage garden flowers. The garden is enfenced by arbours of roses, and behind the house is a rolling lawn with an orchard. |  |
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A short distance from the cottage, the Shottery Brook forms a large pond, in a very beautiful setting. It is surrounded by reeds and overhung by willows. Native lilies, a Renaissance symbol of death and rebirth, float in the centre.
It is claimed that the floating lilies here were the origin of the image of Ophelia in Hamlet. |  |
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