Stratford-upon-Avon [antikvár]

STRATFORD-UPON-AVON, famous the world over as the birthplace of William Shakespeare, is situatedalmost symbolically at the heart of England. Surrounded by countryside notable for its natural and historical appeal, the town enjoys a pleasant riverside setting roughly midway along the course of the Warwickshire Avon.No town has a more fascinating history. Originating as a river-crossing settlement, the site of Roman and Saxon occupation, it became an important focus of roads, and from an early date served as the market centre of the surrounding countryside. During the Middle Ages its development was considerably assisted by the flourishing Gild of the Holy Cross and in 1553 it received its charter of incorporation. Since that time Stratford has remained a self-governing borough and today has a basic population of nearly eighteen thousand people. Its essential rőle is still that of a market town providing facilities for the sale of produce and cattle from the surrounding countryside, though in recent years various small light industries, including beer-brewing, fruit-canning, and the making of road signs, farm machinery and aluminium goods, have developed.Stratford is a town with a character and atmosphere of its own. Apart from the beauty of its river, its streets and buildings preserve many links with its past: the layout and the names of its central streets have changed little since medieval times; Clopton Bridge was built nearly five centuries ago; the fifteenth-century range of gild buildings remains intact; while a goodly number of timber-faced houses of Elizabethan and Jacobean date survive side by side with brick buildings of later periods.It is, however, the fame of the properties associated with William Shakespeare and his family, and of the Shakespeare Festival centred on the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, that makes Stratford-upon-Avon a Mecca for visitors from all over the world. Shakespeare's plays are now produced here for nearly eight months of each year to an audience representative of practically every nation of the world. At the same time Stratford has become a centre of academic study.The pages which follow provide at once a concise guide to the scenes and buildings of special note and a pictorial record of this remarkable English town. A street map will be found inside the back cover.