Anne Hathaway's Cottage, Shottery

Anne Hathaway's Cottage is a farmhouse in Shottery, 1 mile to the West of the centre of Stratford-upon-Avon. Called a cottage though probably larger than most people would think such a building. It is a large building with 12 bedrooms and was where the wife of William Shakespeare lived as a child. The original parts of the house was built in the 15th century [1]. Later extensions occurred in is 17th century.

During Anne Hathaway's day (her grandfather John was the first Hathaway to live there - the family were sheep farmers) the house was known as Hewland's Farm and once had 90 acres of land attached to it. It remained occupied by the Hathaway family until 1911 (though as tenants after 1838), it was bought by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust in 1892. The cottage was damaged by a fire in 1969 but fully restored and is now a museum.

[1] Nikolaus Pevsner & Alexandra Wedgwood, Warwickshire (Penguin, 1966) p. 397