Anne Hathaway's Cottage

Anne Hathaway's Cottage
Delphiniums, hollyhocks and dahlias in the "cottage garden" (2011)
General information
Address	Shottery, Warwickshire, England
Coordinates	52°11′26″N 1°43′53″W / 52.19065°N 1.7315°W / 52.19065; -1.7315Coordinates: 52°11′26″N 1°43′53″W / 52.19065°N 1.7315°W / 52.19065; -1.7315
Owner	Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
Technical details
Structural system	Timber framing
Website
www.shakespeare.org.uk/visit-the-houses/anne-hathaways-cottage-amp-gardens

Anne Hathaway's Cottage is a twelve-roomed farmhouse where Anne Hathaway, the wife of William Shakespeare, lived as a child in the village of Shottery, Warwickshire, England, about 1 mile (1.6 km) west of Stratford-upon-Avon. Spacious, and with several bedrooms, it is now set in extensive gardens.

The earliest part of the house was built prior to the 15th century; the higher part is 17th century. The house was known as Hewlands Farm in Shakespeare's day and had more than 90 acres (36 hectares) of land attached to it; to call it a cottage is really a misnomer, as it is much larger than the term usually means. As in many houses of the period, it has multiple chimneys to spread the heat evenly throughout the house during winter. The largest chimney was used for cooking. It also has visible timber framing, typical of vernacular Tudor architecture.

After the death of Hathaway's father, the cottage was owned by her brother Bartholomew, and was passed down the Hathaway family until 1846, when financial problems forced them to sell it. However, it was still occupied by them as tenants when it was acquired in 1892 by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, which removed later additions and alterations. In 1969 the cottage was badly damaged in a fire, but was restored by the Trust. It is now open to the public as a museum.

Full size replicas of Anne Hathaway's cottage have been built around the world:

History Play
by Jane Lawrence

Titania and Bottom
by Gemma Smith

King Lear
by Eve Pomerantz

Falstaff, What is Honour
by Niels Helvig Thorsen

Hamlet: What Wilt Thou Do For Her
by Michele Firpo-Cappiello

Brutus
by Isaac Graham

Garden path

Garden path