Actually, nothing could be further from the truth. By the time Shakespeare left to make his fortune, he had three children and they were probably living in the Shakespeare family home in town. It wasn't long before his fame in London was making them one of the richest and most important families in town.
Still the romance between the Bard and his much older wife probably started here.
Don't miss the Shakespeare Sculpture Garden at the end of the Orchard and get lost in the maze before having a nose round in the excellent gift shop. Then catch the Hop-on Hop-off bus for the short ride to Mary Arden's house in Wilmcote.
Mary Arden's House and the Shakespeare Countryside Museum
The childhood home of Shakespeare's mother, Mary Arden, is a gabled, and oak-timbered red brick farmhouse (detail inset, above), built around 1570, or before, and occupied as a working farm until as recently as the 1960s.Wilcote was on the edge of the Forest of Arden, thus the family name. It was the setting and inspiration of the romantic comedy As You Like It. Shakespeare's childhood experience of his grandparent's farm and the surrounding countryside probably informed many of the country scenes and rustic characters in his plays.
The Arden homestead together with the black and white half-timbered Adam Palmer house next door, until recently wrongly identified as Mary Arden's, illustrate farming life from Tudor times to the recent past. Depending upon when you visit, you might see the farmer's wife preparing food and baking bread from home grown produce, or you might be asked to join in with the farm chores.
The farm is home to rare heritage breeds of farm animals as well as a collection of birds of prey.
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