It was a 30-minute train ride from London to the National Archives in Kew, England.

Upon entering the National Archives, I felt like I was visiting somewhere very top-secret. I guess that isn’t too unusual, since this building contains England’s most important documents some dating back some 1000 years.

After, being ushered into a large room behind several secure doors, we were greeted by David Thomas, an expert on some of the oldest documents in the repositories. Some Shakespeare-related and Elizabethan Period documents had been pulled especially for our visit, including Shakespeare’s famous will. Not much information about Shakespeare’s actual life exists, but what is known of his life has been found by piecing together the paper trail of information. So, in visiting the archives, I felt like we were part of the team helping to solve the Shakespeare mystery. There are people who have dedicated their entire lives to researching and studying every aspect of Shakespeare’s life and writings, so it was highly unlikely that we would discover anything new and earth-shattering.

We were given white cotton gloves to wear -- oils and acids on fingers can damage the paper. The first document we examined showed Shakespeare’s name on a list of players (or actors) during the reign of King James I. This one was easy to point out.

We also got to look at Guy Fawkes’ confessions in connection with the Gunpowder Plot. On the first document, his signature was clearly legible. But on the second, after being tortured severely, his handwriting was faint and almost unreadable.

Enhance your Shakespearean knowledge: Learn about some of the documents held in the Stratford record office. Our favorites were a warrant signed by Queen Elizabeth I and the Corn and Malt Survey.

Check out the video from the Stratford Record Office in which Christopher attempts to read Old English script.

Fancy a trip to the Tower?

Copyright © 2006-2009 ProjectExplorer, LTD. All Rights Reserved.