Anne Hathaway’s Cottage

This historic building is located in Shottery in Stratford-upon-Avon just one and a half miles from Shakespeare’s Birthplace. It is also a 1.3-mile walk from Stratford’s bustling town centre.

Shall we start with the main Hathaway first? Anne Hathaway is famously known as William Shakespeare’s wife who she married aged 26 while William was just 18! If you don’t know who William Shakespeare is, he is considered (and mostly recognised as) the most famous playwright and poet that ever lived. Not only was he gifted in the arts but he was the most influential writer in the history of the English language and he even created words and phrases that we use today like…

• Bandit.
• Critic.
• Dauntless.
• Dwindle.
• Green-eyed (jealousy)
• lonely
• lackluster

and so many more!

The pair had three children together, Susanna (the eldest) and twins, Judith and Hamnet. Hamnet sadly died aged 11 and was buried in Stratford. Anne and William remained married until he died in 1616. They lived separate lives with Anne remaining in Stratford and William in London. He famously left his ‘second-best bed’ to Anne in his will.

The farmhouse was her family home where she lived with her seven siblings, her father Richard Hathaway and his wife. Anne was the eldest of her siblings and when her father died in 1581 she continued to live there with them until she wed William in 1582.

Anne’s father, Richard Hathway, was a successful and well-respected yeoman farmer. After he passed away, the one-story farmhouse was taken over by Anne’s brother, Bartholomew Hathaway, and turned into a freehold farm.

Anne’s descendants lived in the home for another 400 years and until 1892 when it was taken over by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust where it was then looked after and preserved for visitors. There are a number of fascinating artefacts from multiple generations of Hathaway from the Tudor age to the Victorian age.

The house itself is just one and a half miles from Shakespeare’s Birthplace! Both Anne Hathaway’s Cottage and Shakespeare’s Birthplace remain some of the UK’s most visited attractions, attracting tourists from all over the world.

The cottage was built more than 500 hundred years ago and most of the original build remains today! The house contains five centuries of captivating stories, family heirlooms, and artefacts from the 13 generations of Hathaways that lived there including the famous bed that Anne Hathaway left in Shakespeare’s will.

One of the spell-binding draws to the house that makes Anne Hathaway’s Cottage & Gardens so exciting, is that some of the artefacts are thought to have been touched or interacted with by William Shakespeare. This makes it a bucket-list attraction for die-hard thespians and ‘bardolators’ (Shakespeare super fans).

You can wander through acres of beautiful cottage gardens and lush orchards, and explore the sculpture trail inspired by Shakespeare’s plays.

Garden lovers will adore the two giant willow sculptures and the two willow houses where you can sit and watch the world go by. The garden beds are filled with blooming flowers, sprouting vegetables and traditional herbs. If you keep walking down the paths you’ll discover the 19th-century style, Wilmott’s Garden!

Kids will love the exciting sculpture trail beyond the thatched cottage. As you follow the stone paths, pass through the wild gardens and float around beneath the trees you’ll discover some theatrical sculptures. Keep your eyes peeled for Brutus and Hamlet – they are both characters from Shakespeare’s greatest works!

There are many must-see items on display such as the Hathaway Bed, Courting Settle, Courting Chair, Tester Bed and Wooden Chest. The Hathaway Bed is an iconic piece of furniture in the cottage and was made between 1580 -1650. You can find the bed in Bedchamber 2!

The Courting Settle was traditionally known as the bench used by Anne and William when William would visit Anne at her cottage. However, the wood was dated back to 1750- 1800 which means these family stories told by Anne’s descendants were sadly not true.

Despite the Courting Settle being later identified as being created in the 1700s – 1800s, there is, in fact, a Courting Chair onsite which dates back to the 1600s! This beautiful item is located in Bedchamber 1 so make sure you check it out!