Metamorphosis of 'New Place'

Ever since 1759, there has been a space on the corner of Chapel Street and Chapel Lane, Stratford-upon-Avon, the site of New Place, Shakespeare's family home since 1597. It was the largest house in the borough of Stratford-upon-Avon. New Place was an important centre of Shakespeare's life, but one which has had scant attention in Shakespearean biography. From 2010 to 2015, The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust (with Staffordshire University) excavated the site, and it is now high time for a metamorphosis in Shakespearean biography, as well as for New Place itself, which is being newly presented for the 2016 anniversary year.

Paul Edmondson B.A., M.A., Ph.D. is Head of Research and Knowledge for The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust and an Honorary Fellow of The Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham. His publications include: Twelfth Night: A Guide to the Text and Its Theatrical Life; Shakespeare's Sonnets (co-authored with Stanley Wells). His forthcoming books include Finding Shakespeare's New Place; and archaeological biography (Manchester University Press, July 2016), and Shakespeare's Creative Legacies (Bloomsbury, July 2016). His book Shakespeare: Ideas in Profile (2015) is a lively account for the general reader. He is a Trustee of The British Shakespeare Association, and Chair of The Hosking Houses Trust for women writers.