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Stratford-upon-Avon

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Geography of Great
Britain

   Map sources for Stratford-upon-Avon at grid reference SP1955
   Map sources for Stratford-upon-Avon at grid reference SP1955
   Stratford-upon-Avon
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   Stratford-upon-Avon
   Historic map from 1908
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   Historic map from 1908
   New Place today
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   New Place today
   Shakespeare's birthplace
   Enlarge
   Shakespeare's birthplace
   Hall's Croft
   Enlarge
   Hall's Croft
   Anne Hathaway's Cottage
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   Anne Hathaway's Cottage

   Stratford-upon-Avon is a town on the River Avon in south Warwickshire,
   England. In 2001 the town had a population of 23,676.

   The town is the birthplace and deathbed of William Shakespeare and
   because of its Shakespearean connections the area is a popular tourist
   destination, receiving about three million visitors a year from all
   over the world.

   The local district is named after the town, but the district is called
   Stratford-on-Avon, whereas the town is officially called
   Stratford-upon-Avon. Locally, the town is known as Stratford for short,
   and as such can be confused with the Stratford in the London Borough of
   Newham.

Industry

   Apart from tourism, other industries in the town include aluminium
   ware, narrowboat building and insurance.

History and Geography

   Stratford has Anglo-Saxon origins, and grew up as a market town in
   medieval times. See also ford (river).

Travel

   Stratford is close to the UK's second largest city, Birmingham, and is
   easily accessible from junction 15 of the M40 motorway. The seven-mile
   £12m Stratford Northern Bypass opened in June 1987 as the A422.
   Stratford-upon-Avon railway station has good rail links from Birmingham
   ( Snow Hill station, Moor Street station) and from London, with up to
   seven direct trains a day from London Marylebone.

   The town has a new cycle-path, is on the canal network, and launched
   park and ride scheme in 2006.

Tourist attractions

   The town is located on the Avon, on the banks of which stands the Royal
   Shakespeare Theatre, home of the Royal Shakespeare Company. The RSC
   also runs two smaller theatres, the Swan, which is modelled on an
   Elizabethan theatre, and The Other Place, a black box theatre. There is
   currently also the temporary Courtyard Theatre, opened in July 2006,
   which will become the home of the RSC while the RST is being
   refurbished, beginning in mid-2007. Early in 2006 The Other Place
   temporarily ceased to exist because the space it occupied is being used
   as the Courtyard Theatre's foyer space, cloakroom, bar areas, dressing
   room and rehearsal space. The Other Place will be reinstated after the
   RST refurbishment is complete and the Courtyard Theatre is dismantled.

   Other tourist attractions within the town include the Shakespeare
   Birthplace Trust and two contemporary buildings, Hall's Croft (the
   one-time home of Shakespeare's daughter, Susannah) and New Place, which
   stands on the site of an earlier house originally owned by the
   playwright himself. Also within the town is Holy Trinity Church, where
   Shakespeare was baptised and is buried.

   Near to the town are several other properties associated with
   Shakespeare: Anne Hathaway's Cottage at Shottery, the former home of
   Shakespeare's wife, Mary Arden's House, the former home of his mother,
   and farms and buildings at Snitterfield, the former home of his father.

   Non-Shakespearean attractions include a Teddy Bear Museum, a Butterfly
   Farm, a Witchcraft Exhibition, the Bancroft Gardens, and The Black Swan
   (locally known as the 'Dirty Duck'), a pub said to be frequented by
   actors 'fresh from the stage'.

   Voted 'Best Visitor Attraction' in the 2006 Godiva Awards is the
   [Stratford Town Walk] and Stratford Town Ghost Walk. Stratford Town
   Walk offer a guided public walk every day of the year - even Christmas
   Day - to see the Shakespeare Town Houses, Grammar School, Theatres and
   Holy Trinity Church. The guides entertain and inform with lots of
   information that you could never discover from a guide book. A must, if
   visiting Stratford with a couple of hours to spare. In the evening on
   Mon, Thurs and Fri there is a spooky ghost walk around the historic
   streets to hear grisly stories of ghosts, witches, murder and mayhem.
   Be afraid, very afraid. The guides are professional magicians and
   members of Equity. Monthly ghost cruises take place in partnership with
   Bancroft Cruises from April to October. Entertainment with a
   difference.

   Six kilometres away is Charlecote Park, an historic house set in a deer
   park, from where Shakespeare reputedly poached deer.

   Eight miles away is Ragley Hall, one of England's finest stately homes
   and home to the Jerwood Sculpture Park.

   The town had a publicly-funded art gallery, The Gallery, but this was
   closed in 2004.

   The influx of tourists into Stratford has caused tension with residents
   for decades, and there are perennial complaints about numerous tour
   buses clogging certain roads in the town.

   There are plans to refurbish the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, and to
   build offices and flats on the defunct cattle market next to the
   railway station.

   Each year on or about Michaelmas Day Stratford hosts one of the largest
   Mop Fairs in the country.

Educational establishments

   Stratford is also home to several institutions set up for the study of
   Shakespeare, including the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, which holds
   books and documents related to the playwright, and the Shakespeare
   Institute, an academic college: Stratford-upon-Avon College. The most
   famous school in Stratford is King Edward VI school, which is where
   William Shakespeare is believed to have studied. It is an all-boys
   school, and one of the few schools which selects its pupils using the
   Eleven plus. There is also an all-girls selective school,
   Stratford-upon-Avon Grammar School for Girls, in Shottery, a short
   distance out of town.

Churches

     * Stratford-upon-Avon Elim Pentecostal Church
     * Stratford-upon-Avon Heartlands Church
     * Stratford-upon-Avon Holy Trinity Church
     * Stratford-upon-Avon Methodist Church
     * Renewal Stratford
     * Stratford-upon-Avon St Gregory the Great
     * Stratford-upon-Avon Baptist Church
     * Stratford-upon-Avon URC
     * Stratford-upon-Avon The Salvation Army
     * Word of Life Christian Centre

Trivia

     * Screaming Lord Sutch started his political campaign in
       Stratford-upon-Avon
     * John Profumo was MP for Stratford-upon-Avon
     * Another famous playwright, J.B. Priestley, died in
       Stratford-upon-Avon.
     * The towns of Stratford, Australia and Stratford, Ontario both lie
       on rivers named Avon and hold Shakespeare festivals.
     * Harvard University is named after John Harvard, whose mother was a
       native of Stratford-upon-Avon (her family home currently houses the
       Museum of British Pewter)
     * A bylaw makes it illegal to swear within the district limits.
     * What is claimed to be Shakespeare's birthplace is not in fact his
       origin of birth; he was born in the house next door which was
       mistakenly demolished.

Suburbs

   Shottery, Bishopton, Bridgetown, Tiddington.

Town twinning

     * United States Stratford, Connecticut
     * Canada Stratford, Ontario

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