The footprint of the lost house
The outline of Shakespeare's final home traced on the ground, with specially commissioned sculptures alluding to his plays.
Michelle Walz Eriksson — CC BY 2.0 · CC BY 4.0 · Carolineedurbin — CC BY-SA 4.0 · CC BY-SA 3.0
There is no house. Know that before you walk down Chapel Street: the home Shakespeare bought in 1597 for £60, then the second-largest in Stratford, was rebuilt by a later Clopton owner in 1702 and pulled down to the ground in 1759 by the man who owned it then, the Reverend Francis Gastrell, after a running feud with the town. Three years before that he had already felled the mulberry tree said to have been planted by Shakespeare himself. Stratford never forgave him. The Birthplace Trust bought the empty plot in 1876, and nothing has been built on it since. What stands here now is a memorial garden, redesigned after archaeological digs in 2010-2012 and opened in July 2016. The footprint of the old house is traced on the ground and dotted with specially commissioned sculptures alluding to the plays; beyond it lie the Knot Garden, laid out in a style Shakespeare would have recognised, and the broad, mature Great Garden. This is where he spent his last years after leaving London, and where he died in April 1616. That sense of place is what you come for, not masonry. Next to the garden is Nash's House, once home to the husband of Shakespeare's granddaughter, which holds the exhibition, the shop and the toilets. The Trust currently lists the site as 'New Place Gardens', open from 1 September to 23 December 2026, daily 11am to 3pm with last entry at 2.30pm, so ask on arrival what is open indoors. No summer dates were published for the gardens this year, which matters if you travel in July or August, exactly the months Gulf families tend to come: check the opening times page before you build a day around it. There is no separate ticket: entry is included in the Shakespeare's Birthplace ticket (£27 per adult on the door, £25 booked online, children 3-17 half price, valid for 12 months). Is it worth it? If you are buying the Birthplace ticket anyway, yes: treat it as a quiet extra half hour, five minutes' walk from Henley Street and roughly on the way to Holy Trinity Church and his grave. If you are picturing a Tudor mansion with rooms to wander, you will leave deflated, and it does not justify a special trip. The site is level, with a hard path running around the Great Garden, so it suits pushchairs and wheelchairs, and there are accessible toilets and baby-changing in Nash's House. The benches under the trees suit parents while children follow the family trail. The Great Garden turns properly golden in October; in December the light is going by three, so arrive early.
The outline of Shakespeare's final home traced on the ground, with specially commissioned sculptures alluding to his plays.
A formal Elizabethan-style garden Shakespeare would have recognised, recently restored and the prettiest corner for photographs.
A broad lawn with old trees and shaded benches that turns golden in October, with a family trail for children.
22 Chapel Street, Stratford-upon-Avon CV37 6EP
Guild ChapelIn the Stratford corporation accounts for 1563-64 there is a small entry paying 1 minute walk4.8
Shakespeare's Schoolroom & GuildhallThis building does not admit visitors before eleven in the morning on any day of1 minute walk4.8
Royal Shakespeare TheatreOne of the best views of Stratford is not from the riverbank but above it: 32 me3 minutes walk4.6
Shakespeare's BirthplaceIn 1847 the American showman P. T. Barnum threatened to buy this house, take it 4 minutes walk4.6
Bancroft Gardens & Gower MemorialShakespeare does not stand on a plinth here; he sits, at ease, on a tall pedesta5 minutes walk4.5The Birthplace, without hesitation: it is a real house with rooms, furniture and actors performing scenes. New Place is a garden on the site of a demolished house, and since it comes free with the same ticket, treat it as a short add-on if you have time, not an alternative. Remember too that the published 2026 season runs only from September to December.
Yes in practical terms: the site is level with a hard path around the Great Garden, there are accessible toilets and baby-changing in Nash's House, and a family trail. Just do not expect it to hold them for more than half an hour; small children enjoy the lawn far more than the sculptures.