Shakespeare's Birthplace.
"The country around Stratford
presents the perfection of quiet English scenery; it is
remarkable for its wealth of lovely wild-flowers, for its
deep meadows on each side of the tranquil Avon, and
for its rich, sweet woodlands. The town itself, in Shakespeare's time, numbered about 1400 inhabitants ;
a town of scattered timber houses, possessing two
chief buildings : the stately church by the river-side,
and the Guildhall, where companies of players would
at times perform, when the corporation secured their
services. Flood and fire were the chief dangers of the
town. The quiet river often rose angrily in autumn,
and left disease behind it. The plague, in its course,
did not turn aside from Stratford. Here, and probably
in a low-ceiled room of a house in Henley Street,
William Shakespeare was born, in April, 1564."
Extract from "Shakespeare" (Open Library)
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