Archaeologists unearth Shakespeare's kitchen

Archaeologists exploring the site of Shakespeare's have dug up the Bard's kitchen and brewhouse. Artefacts including an oven, fridge and a watering well were also discovered during the dig at New Place in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warks.

Archaeologists have uncovered the Bard's kitchen at New Place in Stratford-upon-Avon,
 the site of his family home [Credit: K. Colls & W. Mitchell, Staffordshire University]

Experts from Staffordshire University also found fragments of cookware in the "highly significant" discovery at the house where he wrote 26 of his oplays.

The Bard was an established playwright when he bought the house in 1597 and lived there for the last 19 years of his life. He wrote 26 of his plays, including The Tempest, while living at the property with his wife Anne Hathaway and their three children.

Earlier this year the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust said it was transforming New Place into a major heritage landmark. But today, it emerged archaeologists taking part in a dig led by Staffordshire University's Centre of Archaeology had unearthed a missing chapter of the Bard's life.

Experts, who started the dig in May, found several vital artefacts which would have made up the kitchen including a fire hearth 'oven' and a cold storage pit 'fridge'.

Dr Paul Edmondson, head of research and knowledge at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, said: "Finding Shakespeare's kitchen proved to be a vital piece of evidence in our understanding of New Place. Once we had uncovered the family's oven we were able to understand how the rest of the house fitted around it. The discovery of the cooking areas, brew house, pantry and cold storage pit, combined with the scale of the house, all point to New Place as a working home as well as a house of high social status. A much richer picture of Shakespeare has emerged through the course of our excavations. At New Place we can catch glimpses of Shakespeare the playwright and country town gentleman. His main task was to write and a house as impressive as New Place would have played an important part in the rhythm of his working life."

Stone foundations were found under the courtyard of Nash's House - the Tudor house 
next door to Shakespeare's - including stone foundations of industrial structures 
were discovered [Credit: K. Colls & W. Mitchell, Staffordshire University]

Shakespeare bought New Place for the considerable sum of £60 in 1597 at a time when a school teacher's annual salary would have been about £20. Experts believed the house had an impressive frontage as well as a Great Chamber and gallery with 20 other rooms and 10 fireplaces. For preservation purposes, the kitchen artefacts have now been reburied and workers have redesigned the construction plans for New Place.

Julie Crawshaw, project manager of Shakespeare's New Place, added: "The trust knows just how powerful this site is.

"Not just because of what will be seen above the ground but because of the history which lies underneath, layers of earth and foundations which have been untouched for hundreds of years. We have unearthed some significant archaeology which is all part of the story of New Place and its history. This will be shared in our exciting retelling of New Place where visitors will be able to discover Shakespeare on the very ground where his family home stood."

The trust plan to open the reimagined New Place as a heritage landmark in the summer of next year which marks the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death.

Shakespeare wrote 26 of his best-loved plays during his 19 years as owner of New Place before he died in 1616. It was demolished in 1759 by its then owner, Reverend Francis Gastrell, who was annoyed by visiting Shakespeare enthusiasts.

The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust acquired New Place in 1876 and the foundations and gardens have been preserved to allow visitors the chance to explore the site.

Source: Western Daily Press [November 26, 2015]