Today, we visited another of the famous homes in Shakespeare Country - Anne Hathaway’s cottage. In this home, a young Anne Hathaway grew up and eventually went on to marry William Shakespeare. Lucky gal!

With its distinctive thatched roof, the house looks like it’s straight out of a storybook. It’s even become somewhat of an unofficial symbol of England; the image is printed on tea towels and boxes of chocolates.

As I walked through the house, it was easy to imagine a young William Shakespeare coming to visit Anne before they were married. Our tour guide, Charles, shared with us a few stories about William and Anne’s courtship and marriage.

Upstairs, the house holds a very famous piece of furniture. This is known as the ‘second best bed’ and it’s mentioned in Shakespeare’s will. However, we were warned about its authenticity. So much about Shakespeare’s life has to be considered with a degree of caution because there is are huge gaps in the written record.

I like the idea of a young William Shakespeare travelling to Anne’s house to try out some of his sonnets on her. Perhaps that’s how he won her over.

More tomorrow,

Learn about Shakespeare: The Later Years.

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