Finding Shakespeare's New Place

This ground-breaking book provides an abundance of fresh insights into Shakespeare's life in relation to his lost family home, New Place. The findings of a major archaeological excavation encourage us to think again about what New Place meant to Shakespeare and, in so doing, challenge some of the long-held assumptions of Shakespearian biography. New Place was the largest house in the borough and the only one with a courtyard. His impressive home gave Shakespeare significant social status and was crucial to his relationship with Stratford-upon-Avon. The early chapters present the history of the site from pre-historic times through to the grand home built by Hugh Clopton (a Lord Mayor of London) around 1483, the house that Shakespeare himself bought in 1597 at the age of thirty-three. Shakespeare was only ever an intermittent lodger in London, and the three central chapters look again at Shakespeare in relation to his home town and present a richly nuanced reconstruction of New Place during his lifetime and beyond. The fortunes of the house into the eighteenth century are presented up until its demolition in 1759, and the book ends with an account of the 1862 and 2010-15 excavations. Archaeology helps to inform biography in this innovative and refreshing study which presents a compelling picture of New Place when Shakespeare and his family lived there. This attractively illustrated book is for anyone with a passion for archaeology or Shakespeare.