Nash’s house. It was supposed to be William Shakespeare’s final retirement home. This is an impressive building with a courtyard at the front and barns and spacious gardens. With an end of the prolific life of Shakespeare in 1616, the house was left to his daughter Susana Hall. Susana Hall left the house to her daughter Elizabeth Hall, who married Thomas Nash, owner of Nash’s house next door. After Elizabeth Hall’s death the house was returned to Clopton family. Sir John Clopton followed the aristocratic tradition of opening a grand house to the public, encouraging many tourists.
Unfortunately, the next owner of the house, Reverend Francis Gastrell, was not so obliging. Gastrell took out his fury on a mulberry tree in the garden, which is said to be planted by Shakespeare. The inhabitants of Stratford retaliated against Gastrell’s behaviour by smashing his windows. In a tragic final act of madness, this time annoyed at Land Tax demands, Gastrell razed New Place to the ground. Gastrell was driven out of Stratford by murderous Stratfordians, and anyone of the same name was banned from living in Stratford forever.
Now where New Place once stood is an intriguing exact replica of an Elizabethan Knott Garden. The foundations of New Place are accessed via Nash's House, once home of Thomas Nash. The half-timbered front is a replica of the original replaced by a facade of brick and stucco in the 1700s. The building is now home to Stratford's local history museum, housing many pieces of fine Jacobean and Tudor furniture. At the rear of Nash's House and New Place is an enclosed garden, entered via Chapel Lane. The Shakespeare Memorial Garden, tended by The Birthplace trust, stands on the site of New Place's orchards and kitchen gardens. The garden is laid out in a formal Elizabethan manner, typical of Shakespeare's day. As the guide was briefing us on the story, I could visualise the entire episode.