Shakespeare Birthplace Trust

Origins of the trust

| use_new_UK-LEG = | UK-LEG_title = | use_new_UK-LEG = | UK-LEG_title = | use_new_UK-LEG = | UK-LEG_title = For more than 200 years after his death, Shakespeare's birthplace was occupied by the descendants of his recently widowed sister, Joan Hart. Under the terms of Shakespeare's will, the ownership of the whole property (the inn and Joan Hart's cottage) passed to his elder daughter, Susanna; and then on her death in 1649, to her only child, Elizabeth. Elizabeth died in 1670, bequeathing it to Thomas Hart, the descendant of Shakespeare's sister, Joan, whose family had continued as tenants of the cottage after her death in 1646. The Harts remained owners of the whole property until 1806, when it was sold to a butcher, Thomas Court. When it was again put up for sale in 1846 on the death of Court's widow, Incorporated by a local act of Parliament, the Shakespeare Birthplace, &c., Trust Act 1891 (54 & 55 Vict. c. iii), the Birthplace Committee became the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.

Properties

• Shakespeare Centre

The Trust currently owns and cares for a number of houses relating to Shakespeare in and around the town of Stratford-upon-Avon as well as for Palmer's Farm and Harvard House:

• Shakespeare's Birthplace

• Hall's Croft

• Anne Hathaway's Cottage

• New Place and Nash's House

• Shakespeare Countryside Museum comprising:
• Mary Arden's Farm (Glebe Farm)

• Palmer's Farm

• Harvard House

Library and archive

The Library and Records Office, now amalgamated to form the Shakespeare Centre Library and Archive, house the Shakespeare and Local Collections:

• The Shakespeare Collections:

• The Local Collections:

Museums department

The Museums Department is responsible for the care and display of all the historic museum items that the trust owns, principally items that relate to Shakespeare's life and times, which encompass a wide range of material. Other collections include items that represent the social and economic life of Stratford-upon-Avon, and a special collection of pewter, dating from Roman times until the present day. The Trust's Collections and Conservation Department is based in the Shakespeare Centre in Stratford-upon-Avon.

The Trust owns various extensive collections:

• Archaeology

• Art

• Furniture and Furnishings

• Numismatics

• Pewter

• Shakespeariana

• Social History

• Textiles

Education and activities

The Trust hosts a variety of events and provides talks, lectures and courses related to Shakespeare for the general public, and for students at all levels ranging from primary school pupils (with the Heritage Education team) to university students. Through its education department, the Trust also runs international programmes throughout the year on Shakespeare's writings.

The SBT runs the Stratford-upon-Avon Poetry Festival, the oldest in the UK. The SBT introduced the new Shakespeare Film Festival to its events calendar in 2012, the first festival of its kind in the UK.

At Mary Arden's Farm the SBT rears prize-winning livestock including Cotswold sheep and Longhorn cattle.

The Trust begun holding an artist in residence from 2015, the first being held by Roger Hartley who runs the Bureau of Silly Ideas. Others to hold the position include Thor McIntyre and Carrie Reichardt.

References

References

1. {{EW charity. 209302
2. [http://www.shakespeare.org.uk/support-us.html Supporting the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust]. Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. Retrieved 29 October 2012
3. Fogg, Nicholas. (12 October 2006). "Obituary: Levi Fox". [[The Guardian]].
4. [http://www.shakespeare.org.uk/about-us.html]. Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. Retrieved 29 October 2012
5. [http://www.shakespeare.org.uk/content/view/47/47/ Shakespeare's Birthplace] {{webarchive. link. (2008-12-13 Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. Retrieved: 17 November 2008)
6. the American showman [[P. T. Barnum]] proposed to buy the home and ship it "brick-by-brick" to the US. To purchase the property for the nation, the Shakespeare Birthplace Committee was formed, and donors including [[Charles Dickens]] helped the committee raise £3,000 and bought it the following year.[https://www.bbc.co.uk/coventry/content/articles/2008/03/27/bard_birthplace_feature.shtml The Bard's birthplace] bbc.co.uk. Retrieved: 11 November 2008
7. Winkler, Elizabeth. (2024-04-23). "460 Years Ago, Shakespeare Was Born Here. Or Somewhere.". The New York Times.
8. [http://www.shakespeare.org.uk/visit-the-houses.html Houses and museums] Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. Retrieved 29 October 2012
9. [http://www.shakespeare.org.uk/visit-the-houses/shakespeares-birthplace.html Birthplace displays] Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. Retrieved: 20 November 2008
10. [http://www.shakespeare.org.uk/visit-the-houses/halls-croft.html Hall's Croft] Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. Retrieved 20 September 2012
11. [http://www.shakespeare.org.uk/content/view/50/50/ Anne Hathaway's Cottage] {{webarchive. link. (2008-05-10 Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. Retrieved 27 October 2008)
12. [https://www.shakespeare.org.uk/visit/shakespeares-new-place/ Shakespeare’s New Place]
13. [http://www.shakespeare.org.uk/content/view/51/51/ Mary Arden's Farm] {{webarchive. link. (2008-10-14 Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. Retrieved 27 October 2008)
14. (19 November 2014). "The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust opens Harvard House to the public". Discover Britain.
15. "Harvard House". Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.
16. [http://www.shakespeare.org.uk/explore-shakespeare/collections.html Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Collections]. Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. Retrieved 29 October 2012
17. [http://www.shakespeare.org.uk/explore-shakespeare/collections.html Collections Department]. Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. Retrieved 29 October 2012
18. [http://www.shakespeare.org.uk/explore-shakespeare/collections/catalogues.html Collections catalogues]. Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. Retrieved 29 October 2012
19. [http://www.shakespeare.org.uk/explore-shakespeare/students-and-enthusiasts.html Education]. Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. Retrieved 29 October 2012