New Findings at Final Home of Shakespeare, Where he Wrote at the Height of his Career

William Shakespeare owned the biggest, most lavish residence in the borough of Stratford-Upon-Avon, a home fitting his high status in the world. Archaeologists excavating the ruins of the 20-room mansion have found the kitchen with a hearth for cooking food and a brew house.

The home, called New Place, was the great playwright’s final home, and he and his family lived in it for almost 20 years at the height of his career, says a press release from the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. Researchers and experts are preparing to open the home to the public in 2016, 400 years after he died.

“Shakespeare’s New Place was the largest single residence in the borough of Stratford-upon-Avon, and was purchased for the considerable sum of £120 in 1597 (a Stratford school teacher at this time would have earned about £20 per annum).  It had an impressive frontage, a Great Chamber and Gallery, over 20 rooms and 10 fireplaces,” says the press release.