Anne Hathaway's Childhood Home

Anne Hathaway, wife of William Shakespeare, grew up in a picturesque cottage and extensive gardens, set in idyllic Stratford-upon-Avon. Explore Anne Hathaway’s childhood home on Celtic Tours Heart of England Tour.

The term “cottage” doesn’t do Anne Hathaway’s former childhood home justice, it is in fact a spacious twelve-roomed Tudor style farmhouse with several bedrooms and is now set in extensive gardens.

Very little is known about Anne beyond a few references in legal documents, but her personality and relationship to Shakespeare have been the subject of much speculation by historians and creative writers. Hathaway married Shakespeare in November 1582 while pregnant with the couple's first child, to whom she gave birth six months later. Hathaway was 26 years of age; Shakespeare was only eighteen. This age difference, together with Hathaway's antenuptial pregnancy, has been employed by some historians as evidence that it was forced on a reluctant Shakespeare by the Hathaway family. There is, however, no evidence for this inference.

Anne Hathaway’s Cottage is owned and cared for by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, it is one of 7 properties that is cared for by the Trust.

Visit this piece of literary history on Celtic Tours Heart of England tour.