Step by step

1. Start the walk either at Bridge 67 over the Stratford canal, which is where Great William Street crosses the canal, or start at waymark 25, Bancroft Gardens, near the basin that links the river Avon and Stratford canal in the town centre. At canal bridge 67 you leave the towpath and go up on to the bridge. This is Great William Street. Whichever direction you approach the bridge from, cross the bridge to go over the canal. Continue past the terraced houses of Great William Street, heading for the town centre. 2. On Great William Street note on the left the masonic hall, which was originally a Methodist chapel, consecrated in 1866. 3. At the end of Great William Street is busy Guild Street. Directly over the road you can see the back garden of the Shakespeare Birthplace Museum. Turn left on Guild Street and almost immediately cross carefully to take a small footpath directly ahead of you and to the left of the museum. Follow this to its junction with Henley Street. Turn right on Henley Street to see the front of the house. 4. This is the front of Shakespeare's birthplace. The Shakespeare Centre to the left of the birthplace houses collections of his work for literary scholars. 5 With Shakespeare's birthplace behind you, turn left down Henley Street in the direction you just came from. Note on the left the library, saved from demolition in 1901 by the millionaire Andrew Carnegie. Born in Scotland in 1835, Carnegie founded Pittsburgh's Carnegie Steel Company. He funded many schools, universities and libraries in the US and the UK and is often regarded as the second richest man in history. 6. Keep walking ahead down Henley Street. 7. At the Barclays roundabout, take the second road on the right, which is High Street.

8. Shortly before the next main junction, Harvard House is on the right. The Garrick Inn has an original 17th-century interior but the outside has been reconstructed. On the opposite corner the half-timbered building, now a Pizza Hut, was, in 1600, the home of the wealthy, local Woolmer family. 9. The town hall on the left stands where the first market hall was built, in 1643. It was damaged in the civil war and rebuilt in 1767. David Garrick, leading Shakespearean actor of the time, staged a three-day festival in 1769, marking the rebuilding and so gave rise to the modern Shakespeare tourism industry. With the town hall still on your left, continue straight ahead on to Chapel Street. 10. The Shakespeare hotel is on your left, just beyond the town hall. It was originally two 16th-century houses. This was the most expensive hotel in the whole of Stratford at the beginning of the 16th century at 4s 6d a night. In 1594, a great fire destroyed most of the opposite side of the street. The replacement buildings were built in brick. 11. On the left is Nash's House, built in 1600, home of Thomas Nash who married Shakespeare's granddaughter. It dates back mainly to the 16th century, with the half-timbered front being a reconstruction of the original, which was replaced by a brick front in the 1700s. It is now the home of the Stratford Local History Museum. 12. The garden next to Nash's House is the site of New Place, the house where Shakespeare died in 1616, aged 52. When he bought it, in 1597, it was said to be the second largest house in Stratford and the largest built of brick. 13. The Falcon Inn, opposite, was a private house in Shakespeare's lifetime. It was originally a two-storey building dating from 1500, but an extra storey was added in the 17th century. It has held a continuous licence for longer than any other hostelry (since the 1640s) in the town. Cross Chapel Lane and continue straight ahead. 14. The Guild Chapel is first on your left, followed by Shakespeare's school. The grammar school was erected around 1417 and endowed in 1456. The Guild Hall dates from 1417 and is now part of the school. It

joins on to the chapel. The almshouses are next to this, dating from 1427. Built to give homes to the old and infirm of the town, they are still in use. 15. Opposite are Numbers 8 and 9, the only two remaining houses from an original row of timber homes that was demolished to build the National Farmers Union Mutual Insurance headquarters in 1927 (now a council building). 16. Further along on the left is the Windmill Inn. 17. The large brick building opposite is Mason Croft, now the Shakespeare Institute, part of Birmingham University. Built in 1724, it was once owned by a bestselling author of the time, Marie Corelli. At the end of Church Street, turn left into Old Town. This was the centre of the original town before the Bishop of Worcester's planned new town began in 1196. 18. A short way down Old Town, Hall's Croft is on your left. Shakespeare's daughter Suzanna and her husband Dr John Hall lived here. It contains an exhibition of the peculiar medical practices of Shakespeare's time. The garden has an ancient mulberry tree and a herb bed. 19. Keep walking ahead, noting the war memorial within the garden of remembrance to the right. 20. Keep ahead and turn left into Holy Trinity church. The church is approached along an avenue of lime trees, said to represent the 12 tribes of Israel and the 12 Apostles. 21. Note the stained glass windows. Much of the original glass was destroyed during the Protestant reformation. 22. Return along Old Town and then turn right into Southern Lane, noting on the lampposts labels showing which councils donated them. There is a brass-rubbing centre to the left. 23. Continue with the river on your right on Southern Lane, which becomes Waterside. 24. The Royal Shakespeare Theatre is on your right. This was opened on Shakespeare's supposed birthday, 23 April, in 1932. A fire had

destroyed the original Shakespeare Memorial Theatre opened in 1879. In 2008, it underwent a massive redevelopment that involved demolishing the entire interior of the building. The new theatre is due to open in 2010. It will have a 1,000-seat auditorium with a large stage projecting into the audience. Continue ahead on Waterside. 25. Beyond the theatre, also on the right, is Bancroft Gardens and Gower Memorial on the far side. The memorial is a statue of the great playwright himself, with four characters from his plays each representing philosophy, tragedy, comedy and history. It was sponsored by Lord Ronald Sutherland-Gower, who presented it to the town in 1888. This is the end of the walk. You can return to your starting part by rejoining the canal to your right and heading north, then north-west, along the towpath, passing under the Warwick road bridge. The next bridge is where you started at bridge 67, with Great William Street on top.