Buying as a gift? Lovetovisit Gift Card available here!
Book your Anne Hathaway's Cottage tickets in Stratford-upon-Avon today
This picturesque English thatched cottage dates back over 600-years and was the home to countless family generations, eventually being the home Shakespeare's bride-to-be Anne Hathaway.
Highlights
- This is where the young Shakespeare would have visited Anne during the early part of their relationship and is a perfect retreat to explore the famous Shakespeare/Hathaway love story.
- Feel yourself slip back in time among the acres of pretty cottage gardens, orchards, woodland walks and sculpture trails.
- Inside the cottage you'll even see original family furniture, including the four-poster bed and courting settle.
The rich history
When the site was a farm, it was known as ‘Hewlands,’ and the Hathaway family were successful sheep farmers. The garden served as a farmyard with livestock and space for growing herbs and vegetables.
After Anne’s father passed away in 1581, her brother Bartholomew inherited the tenancy of the 90-acre farm and later purchased the freehold. He expanded the cottage, adding new chimneys and an upper floor, completing this work before his death in 1624.
By the late 19th century, the family’s fortunes had declined. Some properties, including land and other houses, were mortgaged and eventually sold. In 1838, the cottage itself was sold, but the Hathaway family continued to live there as tenants.
A visit to Anne Hathaway's Cottage is the chance to be at one with the history and romance that surrounds the life and works of William Shakespeare, and is most certainly the perfect choice for a day out in Stratford-upon-Avon.