Nash's House and New Place

Nash's House was named after Thomas Nash, first husband of Shakespeare's granddaughter, Elizabeth. Today, it is a well preserved Tudor building, with the ground floor furnished as it would have been in Nash's day and with two fascinating exhibitions upstairs. Learn about archaeological finds from the site and choose your favourite character in our top 10 heroes and villains exhibition.

Next door to Nash's House are the foundations of New Place, the house bought by William Shakespeare in 1597. By this time, Shakespeare was an established playwright and had amassed enough wealth to afford this elaborate new family home.

New Place was the second biggest house in Stratford at the time and it was where Shakespeare lived when he was not in London. He chose to return to this house in later life, so this is the site where we believe Shakespeare wrote some of his later works such as The Tempest. He eventually died here in 1616.

The house at New Place was demolished by the Reverend Francis Gastrell in 1759, but the foundations and gardens have been beautifully preserved so that you may still explore the site of Shakespeare's later years as a successful playwright and businessman in Stratford.

Highlights at New Place & Nash's House:

• Explore a well preserved Tudor house and traditional knot garden

• Get involved in hands on activities in the family marquee and Tudor games in the gardens (weekends and school holidays March - October)

• Learn about the finds from our three year archaeological dig, as featured on TV's Time Team and National Treasures Live.

"Dig for Shakespeare" Exhibition

From 2010 - 2012 the site at New Place was excavated in collaboration with the University of Birmingham, in an attempt to discover more about the Shakespeare story. A selection of our discoveries are now on display in this special exhibition at Nash's House.

Family Archaeology Marquee

Kids of all ages can explore even further in our Archaeology Tent, open in the Great Garden from 1-4pm on Saturdays and Sundays and then every afternoon from 12 - 4pm during the summer holidays (19 July - 31 August)

Hunt for hidden treasures in our outdoor digging pits and play a range of interactive games to date your finds, search for evidence of food eaten through the ages, take part in the 'Rot or Not' challenge and more!

Read more about the activities on offer in the Family Archaeology Marquee.