Nash'S House (New Place Museum)

This is a town house, now a museum, located on Chapel Street in Stratford-upon-Avon. The front of the building dates back to around 1600, but was rebuilt in 1912. It is timber-framed with plaster and brick infill, set upon a rubble plinth, and has tile roofs with rubble and brick stacks. The house is two storeys tall, with an attic, and has a two-window front. The first and second floors project as jetties. The entrance, located to the left of the centre, has a plank door. The windows feature ovolo mullions and leaded glazing. Ground floor windows are transomed, with three and five lights. First-floor windows have five lights each, while the second-floor windows, located in the gables, have three lights. The front displays close-studded timber framing. The right return has square framing with brick infill to the gable. A rear wing is present, with a rubble stack behind the front range, featuring diagonal brick shafts. It also includes early 20th century windows, including a canted bay window with a hipped roof, and a brick stack. A lower rear addition and a single-storey scullery are also present.

The interior retains original timber framing and chamfered beams. Fireplaces include a stop-chamfered timber bressumer; one fireplace is ex-situ, with an ashlar Tudor arch. An open-well stair has spiral-on-vase balusters, and a cross-mullioned window on the landing incorporates stained glass panels. A 17th-century door leads to the scullery, which contains a fireplace and bread oven. The attic has two-panel doors.

Historically, the house was owned by Thomas Nash from around 1630 and was likely the residence of his widow, Elizabeth Hall, Shakespeare’s grand-daughter, from 1647. From 1884, it was vested in the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust and is now operated as a museum. The grounds are of significant interest, containing the foundations of New Place, Shakespeare’s last home, and the Knott garden. The Shakespeare Monument, located in the Great Garden of New Place to the rear in Chapel Lane, is nearby.