15 September 2015 A.D. The Shakespeare Trail
15 September 2015 A.D. The
Shakespeare Trail
Bramley, Zoe. “The Shakespeare Trail.” On the Tudor Trail. 14 Sept 2015. http://onthetudortrail.com/Blog/2015/09/14/the-shakespeare-trail/.
Accessed 15 Sept 2015.
The Shakespeare Trail
For Shakespeare fans the year 2016 is set to be one
long celebration as we mark the 400th anniversary of his death. Of
course, we’re not celebrating the fact that he died, but this will be a
brilliant chance to sit back and watch as the TV schedules fill with
Shakespeare documentaries and adaptations such as Hollow Crown. There will also
be a glut of books released including one written by Boris Johnson, who is
currently Mayor of London. 2016 will be Shakespeare heaven indeed.
As a Shakespeare tour guide, I decided to mark the
occasion with a book of my own, exploring his locations in England. The aim was
to compile a useful guidebook for both tourists and armchair travellers alike.
I was expecting the whole process to be fairly straightforward. After all, the
Shakespeare tourist trail is a well trodden path with a nice selection of
picturesque and iconic sites to write about. One which springs immediately to
mind is the Globe on Bankside, with its thatched roof and whitewashed timber
walls. It is a modern replica of the playhouse in which Shakespeare’s company
performed plays such as Julius Caesar and As You Like It. As a living,
breathing theatre it keeps Shakespeare’s memory alive by offering some truly
magical interpretations of his plays. The tickets are cheap too, which always
helps! Another well known site is the pretty half timbered townhouse on Henley
Street in Stratford-upon-Avon. Shakespeare was born here in 1564 and it is now
a familiar sight, adorning the cover of a thousand postcards sent around the
globe.
Shakespeare’s
Globe
As I began to delve deeper into Shakespeare’s life,
however, I began to realise that these well known locations only scratch the
surface of his presence in England. Month by month, my journey took me into
some of the furthest corners of the land, from the wild Northumbrian coastline
to the dizzying White Cliffs of Dover. Along the way I discovered his
connections with stately homes, royal palaces and even a Holiday Inn.
The truth is William Shakespeare turns up in the
strangest of places. Here is a short selection of some of the weird and
wonderful places in which I found him:
1: Hampton Court Palace
Most readers of this blog will associate Hampton
Court Palace with Anne Boleyn, that tragic queen who beguiled Henry VIII with
her wit and intelligence. Her presence can be felt in the imposing Great Hall
with its faded tapestries and hammer-beamed roof. But did you know that
Shakespeare was here too? As the scene of courtly entertainments, the King’s
Men performed in the hall for James I in 1603.
2: Holy Trinity Church,
Stratford-upon-Avon
The church of Holy Trinity is a landmark in
Stratford, its tall steeple piercing the sky. Dating back to the middle ages,
it was a place of worship that Shakespeare knew well. He was baptised in the
font (which can still be seen) and buried here in 1616. Look out for the bust
of Shakespeare, said by his widow Anne Hathaway to be a good likeness of him.
The church is rightly proud of its famous local boy and the helpful staff
members are always on hand to answer questions.
3: Shakespeare Cliff, Dover
It
is hard to believe that a simple cliff face should be associated with
Shakespeare but this natural feature was perfectly described in the play King
Lear. It is known that The King’s Men performed in Dover so perhaps Shakespeare
spent some time walking around the local countryside, gazing at the sights with
a keen writerly eye.
4: St Mary Aldermanbury, London
In
this pretty garden stands a bust of William Shakespeare. It is surrounded on
all sides by a memorial plaque dedicated to John Heminges and Henry Condell,
the two men who saved his work for posterity by compiling the First Folio in
1623. Heminges and Condell were Shakespeare’s fellow actors and they lived in
the area, not far from Will’s lodgings around the corner on Silver Street.
5: Guildhall, London
Around
the corner from St Mary Aldermanbury is the medieval Guildhall. Built in 1430,
this stunning gothic hall was the scene of state trials including those of Lady
Jane Grey and Thomas Cranmer. It is a much loved landmark in the City of London
but it may not have been Shakespeare’s favourite place because it was here that
one of his kinsmen, Edward Arden, was found guilty of treason in 1583.
The
Guildhall
400 years after Shakespeare died our love and
fascination for this extraordinary talent is still as strong as ever. As a man
he lurks in the shadows but his wonderful cast of characters continues to speak
in his name, making us laugh and cry as if they themselves were living people.
I hope these little snippets have inspired you to follow the Shakespeare Trail,
seeking out the man who breathed life into characters such as Romeo, Juliet,
Puck, Titania, Hamlet, Macbeth and Dogberry.
Happy travels!
The Shakespeare Trail: A Journey into Shakespeare’s England
by Zoe Bramley is published by Amberley and is available for pre-order on
Amazon.
Connect with Zoe on Twitter at @shakespearewalk
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