Constituting a direct contrast to the diverse metropolis of London,
Stratford upon Avon in the Elizabethan era reflected a quaint rural community
of perhaps no more than 1,500 inhabitants. Born in Stratford in 1564
Shakespeare would one day capitalize on his successful career as a playwright
and actor and become one of Stratford’s most distinguished and wealthy inhabitants.
Those buildings preserved by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, specifically the
Birthplace, New place/Nash House, and Holy Trinity Church, can enlighten
visitors today on the characteristics that defined everyday life in Shakespeare’s
Stratford.
Unlike the conglomeration
of competing cultures and sprawling urban magnetism associated with 16th-17th
century London, Stratford upon Avon was situated in the rolling countryside and
was primarily a farming community. As a boy, Shakespeare would have probably
spent time in the neighboring borrow of Wilmcote and contributed to the basic
chores required to successfully manage a farm. Stratford also encouraged domestic
trade businesses that crafted and sold the necessary goods and materials
required by farmers to tend their crops and livestock. As we discovered while
touring Shakespeare’s birthplace Shakespeare’s father, John Shakespeare, utilized
the family’s home as a workshop for crafting gloves and other leather/hide
products. The house itself was specifically designed to accommodate John’s
glove business and featured a wide hallway for driving carts of leather and other
materials through the house and a window facing Stratford’s largest street out
of which, John could peddle his gloves to passing customers.
Additional evidence of
Stratford’s rural history can be discovered at the site of Shakespeare’s home
from c. 1597 until his death in 1616. Shakespeare:
Work, Life, and Times reveals that upon buying “New Place” in 1597 “Shakespeare
had been ranked as one of the most prosperous men in Stratford. From the list
of chief householders in Chapel Ward, where New Place was situated, we find
that out of 20 holders of corn, only two have more in stock than William
Shakespeare.” The reference towards Shakespeare’s capita in corn alludes to the
striving farming community characterizing Stratford in the Elizabethan era. Unfortunately
New Place was demolished in 1759 by the Reverend Francis Gastrell but the house’s
original foundation and adjacent garden can still be observed today. The
official guidebook provides additional information regarding rural gardens and
refers to them as “medical chests for the treatment of household ailments, a
convenient supply of vegetables for cooking, and sweet smelling flowers and
herbs to decorate the house.”
Perhaps the most prominent
indicator of Stratford as a tight-knitted rural community is Holy Trinity
Church where we visited yesterday to view Shakespeare’s tomb. The architecture
of the church is similar to the Gothic design of Westminster Abbey and
Southwark Cathedral but the condensed size and minimalism on the interior
reflects Stratford upon Avon’s small population that resided here in the
Elizabethan era.
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