The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. Caring for Shakespeare's family homes and sharing the love of his work, life & times from his hometown of Stratford-upon-Avon.
“Beware the Ides of March.” Julius Caesar Act I Scene 2.
#OnThisDay
in 44 BC, Julius Caesar was assassinated. Remind yourself of the plot of Shakespeare’s play that depicts this event
Happy Twelfth Night!
In the Tudor period, the Twelfth Night of Christmas was a time of revelry and misrule, making it a fitting title for a play teeming with mischief.
📖 Learn more about Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night:
We're thrilled to announce that the 'Shakespeare Documents' have been listed on
@UNESCO
International Memory of the World register, recognising the universal cultural and historical value of 90 important documents relating to
#Shakespeare
's life
#OTD
400 years ago the book that became known as The First Folio was first published, 7 years after the death of William Shakespeare.
Learn more about the continued impact of the First Folio:
Happy 460th Birthday William Shakespeare 🎂
Leave your birthday wishes to our favourite playwright and poet, and let us know why he means so much to you, below 🥳
Learn more about the man behind the works 👉
Join us in celebrating the birth of William Shakespeare, the ordinary boy from Stratford-upon-Avon who went on to do extraordinary things.
#HappyBirthdayShakespeare
Raise a glass, read a book, or eat a piece of cake in his honour and write your 457th birthday wishes below!
Happy Birthday Shakespeare 🎂
Leave your birthday wishes to our favourite playwright and poet, and let us know why he means so much to you, below 🥳 If you’re visiting this weekend you could also leave them in our replica Folio at the 400 Years of the First Folio exhibition ✏️
It's our birthday!
#OTD
in 1847 the Trust was formed following the purchase of Shakespeare's Birthplace at auction, saving it for the nation. Today, thanks to your support, we continue our mission to share Shakespeare's heritage with the world.
We've been looking after Shakespeare's heritage for over 170 years and people have been visiting the Birthplace since long before that!!
#HeritageMW
#MuseumWeek
We’re pleased to share that we have received a loan of £3m from the Government’s
#CultureRecoveryFund
. Thanks to
@DCMS
@ace_national
, it will help us recover, make plans to reopen & deliver fresh digital content for our audiences. Read our full statement
Happy Birthday Dame Judi Dench! 🥂
Over the years, Dame Judi has portrayed countless iconic Shakespearean characters, from Titania in A Midsummer Night's Dream to Lady Macbeth in Macbeth.
Explore her past Royal Shakespeare Company performances:
🧵1/2
Congratulations to SBT Council Member, Gregory Doran who has received a knighthood for services to the arts in the New Year's Honours list. 👏
Sir Gregory recently donated a copy of the new Folio Society edition of the Complete Plays of William Shakespeare to the SBT collection.
Our peace shall stand as firm as rocky mountains
(Henry IV Part 2, 4.1)
We're lighting up Shakespeare's Birthplace in the national colours of Ukraine as a mark of solidarity with its people and the global community affected by the conflict.
#StandwithUkraine
🇺🇦
We are deeply saddened at news of the death of Sir Antony Sher, the outstanding Shakespearian actor, artist and author. We offer our sincere condolences and thoughts to Antony’s husband Gregory Doran and to Antony's family, friends and associates including all at
@TheRSC
We're so proud that Shakespeare's Birthplace is officially one of the Top 10 places for Music & Literature in
@HistoricEngland
#100places
as voted by you & judge Monica Ali. Listen to the podcast for a fascinating insight into young Will's childhood home
To herald the approach of his 90th birthday,
@stanley_wells
is preparing a series of brand new lectures exploring 'What Was Shakespeare Really Like?'
Hear the first on 23 April:
We're very grateful to receive vital support from
#CultureRecoveryFund
at this critical time. Thanks to
@DCMS
@ace_national
& our supporters we can continue to preserve Shakespeare’s heritage & introduce new digital & learning initiatives
#HereForCulture
William Shakespeare was born in this house and grew up here with his parents and siblings. He also spent the first five years of his marriage living here with his wife Anne Hathaway. John and Mary Shakespeare were wealthy enough to own the largest house on Henley Street
We're pleased to be donating these gloves, masks & goggles that would normally be used by our museum, library & archives team to
@Warwickshire_CC
to protect frontline health & care staff as they continue to support vulnerable people during the
#Covid19
pandemic.
Another Shakespearean actor's birthday, happy birthday to Dame Helen Mirren! Here is a gorgeous photograph of her from our archives when she played the role of Julia in The Two Gentlemen of Verona at
@TheRSC
in 1970.
#SBTCollections
#OnThisDay
in 1623
#Shakespeare
's wife Anne was buried alongside her husband in Holy Trinity Church in
#StratfordUponAvon
.
Anne was 8 years older than her husband, but outlived him by 7 years. Find our more about her life here ➡️
Happy 458th birthday Shakespeare! 🥳
We're celebrating all day in Stratford with live performances and workshops. Local residents get free entry to Shakespeare's Family Homes all weekend - just present proof of a CV37 address and your visit is free!
👉
It's a beautiful day here at Shakespeare's Birthplace and we couldn't be more excited to welcome visitors back through our doors.
Plan your visit and discover the
#HomeOfShakespeare
Wishing our Honorary President, Professor Sir
@stanley_wells
, the happiest of birthdays. Enjoy Stanley's 2020 lecture series 'What Was Shakespeare Really Like' at
Join us LIVE at 11am (BST) on 23 April as we gather with our neighbours to celebrate everything that makes Stratford-upon-Avon an amazing place to live, work and visit. Share your stories of Stratford with us!
#SaluteToStratford
As well as Shakespeare’s birthday April 23rd also marks
@UNESCO
#WorldBookDay
. To mark the occasion we thought we’d share these images of the First Folio which gifted the world with previously unpublished plays including Macbeth, The Tempest, and Twelfth Night...
It's
#Shakespearesbirthday
! 🎉 Today we're celebrating the town where it all began, and we'd love to hear your stories of what makes Stratford-upon-Avon special to you 😀 Join us here at 11am as we go LIVE for a
#SaluteToStratford
We join the nation in mourning the death of HRH Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh. Prince Philip had a keen interest in Shakespeare & was a regular visitor to Stratford-upon-Avon. Our thoughts are with HM The Queen and the Royal Family at this sad time.
Our lovely goat kid - a girl born on Wednesday 15 April - is an English Goat, an extremely rare breed with less than 100 left in Britain. We call her Cobweb, after a character in which play..? 😉
LIVE! Join us for
#SaluteToStratford
: A Celebration of Stratford-upon-Avon on
#ShakespearesBirthday
. Thank you to all of our neighbours who make Stratford the "beating heart" of Shakespeare’s global story.
We're very excited about our latest addition! This stunning map of England & Wales dates from 1603 and has just gone on display in our new acquisitions case
#SBTCollections
#maps
It's Shakespeare's 457th birthday on Friday & we're looking forward to joining the virtual celebrations!🥳
@StratfordTC1
will mark the occasion with a special pre-recorded procession available to watch on Friday at 11am. Tune in, wherever you are in the🌎
Our museum collection contains some
#hiddengems
including this beautiful and rare Anglo-Saxon great square-headed brooch excavated from a burial site in Stratford-upon-Avon in the 1930s. Find out more here
#AngloSaxon
#SBTCollections
#Archaeology
Are you ‘well-heeled’? In the 1580s shoemakers started to introduce wooden heels and arches to ladies shoes. In 1595, Queen Elizabeth I ordered her first pair of what she called ‘high-heels’. Not suitable for working people, but the wealthy have never looked back!
#TudorTuesday
"The weight of this sad time we must obey,
Speak what we feel, not what we ought to say.
The oldest have borne most. We that are young
Shall never see so much, nor live so long."
King Lear, Act 5 Scene 3
...
I'll tell you excellent news...(Coriolanus, Act 1, Scene 3)
We're delighted to confirm plans for the phased reopening of more Shakespeare’s family homes in
#StratforduponAvon
this summer. Tickets go on sale 27 April
Read all about it:
#HomeOfShakespeare
Shakespeare’s Birthplace Shop, Henley Street is reopening today, 10am-4pm, 7 days a week. We’ve missed you! The shop is opening independently of Shakespeare's Birthplace, which will reopen on 17 May, in line with the Government's roadmap for cultural reopening.
Who lives in a house like this...? This beautiful shot of the interior of Anne Hathaway’s cottage was shared on Instagram by
@postcardsbyhannah
😊 Do you have any photos from previous visits to share with us?
Today we're wishing our honorary president, Sir
@stanley_wells
a very happy 90th birthday from all at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. To mark the occasion, we commissioned a new audio lecture series from the man himself. Catch up with it here:
Our head of research
@Paul_Edmondson
introduces five short films about museum objects & archive documents that feature in Sir Kenneth Branagh’s new film
@allistruemovie
, starting with what we know about the death of his only son Hamnet... (Part 2 tomorrow)
We’re incredibly proud to announce that our former Chief Executive,
@DianaJOwen
has been awarded an OBE by Her Majesty the Queen for services to culture and tourism. Congratulations!
Today marks the 400th anniversary of the death of Anne Shakespeare (née Hathaway).
Discover more about the life and the continuing legacy of the woman who married William in 1582.
📣We have been successful in our funding application to start to transform 22 Henley Street into a world-class learning and community hub.
Plans include multi-use rooms and an accessible gallery and exhibition space for local artists.
Did you know that Shakespeare was 33 when he bought New Place, the grandest home in the borough? He produced 26 of his major works over the years that followed before his death in 1616.
We would like to wish a very happy birthday to Dame Judi Dench! Unsurprisingly, we are not her only fans! She has been the top search term on our online collections database Discover Shakespeare for some months! Here's a lovely image of her as Titania in 1962.
#sbtcollections
In Shakespeare’s day people commonly brought their own cutlery when eating out. A decent spoon showed off a person’s status. The decoration of spoons was often focused on the end of the handle, known as the ‘knop’, which stopped the spoon slipping into the dish.
#TudorTuesday
Two weeks today, on 17 May we are reopening our doors to Shakespeare’s Birthplace and can’t wait to welcome you back!
Advanced booking essential:
Rediscover the
#HomeOfShakespeare
1) A thread of fate and fortune that will make you ask "..can it really be?" A little-known treasure of glittering gold whose discovery almost seems to defy belief.
This gold signet ring was unearthed by a farm labourer at the edge of a sleepy English churchyard in 1810...
'Shall I compare thee to a summer's day' Shakespeare's Sonnet 18
It's another beautiful sunny day here at Shakespeare's Birthplace in Stratford-upon-Avon
Hall's Croft, Stratford-upon-Avon.
1613: built for William Shakespeare’s daughter Susanna and her husband, the physician John Hall.
2020: one of the few surviving homes from the Jacobean period not to have been altered beyond recognition through the ages.
📢 Exciting news!
Today marks the initial publication of the new Children’s Folio - the first ever illustrated edition, for children, of the landmark book that brought Shakespeare’s plays together over 400 years ago.
🧵1/5
Our
#UnusualObject
appears unassuming at first, but this copy of 'The Works of William
#Shakespeare
'(1905) has a hidden secret
The fore-edge painting of Holy Trinity Church remains hidden when the book is closed and is revealed when you fan the pages
#SBTCollections
#Archive30
Although it’s one of the last pieces of work he wrote, The Tempest is the first play to appear in Shakespeare’s First Folio 📕 It’s currently being performed
@TheRSC
as part of the Folio’s 400 celebrations 🥳
#OTD
in 1623, Anne Hathaway passed away. She outlived her husband by 7 years. Here is a portrait of her painted by Roger Dunn which was based on a 1708 pen drawing by Sir Nathaniel Curzon, and her burial record (as Mrs Shakespeare) in the Parish Register.
#SBTCollections
Join the incredible
@MichaelRosenYes
next Thurs 24 March at 11am as he tells us what he likes about Shakespeare. Expect language fun, lots of energy and a
#ShakespeareWeek
special workshop from a national treasure! Not to be missed! Tune in on facebook or
In celebration of
@ShakespeareWeek
, this March over 2,500 school children from across the country took part in our Shakespeare portrait competition. You can see some of our favourite entries on our online exhibition:
#ShareYourShakespeare
#ShakespeareWeek
Anne Hathaway's Cottage and Shakespeare's New Place, featuring our new First Folio exhibition, are now open🔓🎉
Explore Shakespeare's life, works and times across three of his family homes in Stratford-upon-Avon as we mark 400 years of the First Folio.
Happy Birthday to us! 🎂
#OTD
in 1847 the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust was formed following the purchase of Shakespeare's Birthplace at auction.
Thank you for your continued support as we continue our mission to share Shakespeare's story.
Find out more:
It’s Will’s birthday weekend and we're celebrating here in Stratford-upon-Avon with performances, workshops, and of course the famous birthday parade 🥳 You can find out more about his birth, life and why we're still celebrating 459 years later here 👉
Shakespeare's family homes and gardens will unfortunately not be reopening on 4 July. We hope to welcome visitors as soon as possible and will share updates when we have any. See our latest statement:
Tomorrow marks the anniversary of the death of real-life Richard III in the Battle of Bosworth ⚔️
The quote below might be the most famous, but what’s your favourite from one of Shakespeare’s greatest villains?
Happy
#StDavidsDay
! This Welsh version of Hamlet is part of our wonderful (and extensive) collection of translations of Shakespeare's works
#SBTCollections