Ring Around the Country, Part 2

Tuesday, May 29, 2018

Today we drove to Stratford Upon Avon, a medieval market town.  It is the 16th-century birthplace of William Shakespeare(1564-1616), possibly the most famous writer in the English language.

 At the Swan Fountain we met Barbara, a guide with the Town Walk.  She took a group of us all around the sights.

 Barbara talked a lot about the architecture of Stratford. One of these is authentic, one was created to look old.  Can you tell which? The one on the left is original from the 1500's. Note the black timbers and white painted waddle. During the Victorian era, the original buildings were painted black and white as that was thought of as more attractive.

 This is the real deal. This is also the house William Shakespeare was born in.

 This is a bank is from the 1700's. The carvings are amazing

 One of the theaters in town

 One of the whimsical lamp posts in town

 Another theater

 Patti by the river Avon

 William Shakespeare was traumatized at some point by the process of unearthing the dead. He was determined that it not happen to him or his family.  As a very wealthy man he could afford to buy part of the local church and be buried inside, making it much more difficult to dig him up.

 His grave is outlined with blue cords

 This is refereed to as the curse.

 Beautiful windows in that church

 More 16th century buildings

From Stratford we headed back south to Moreton on the Marsh.

We managed to get there just before the market closed for the day.

 Grumpy ponies

 From there we went to the Hailes Abbey. Built in 1246, little remains of the original building.  Most of what is on display has been excavated by archaeologist.

 Richard, Earl of Cornwall, brother to King Henry III founded the abbey to give thanks after surviving a shipwreck.  It became a sight of pilgrimage after his son Edmund donated a vial of what was thought to be the blood of Christ.

 In 1536 King Henry VIII broke from the Catholic Church and shut all the abbeys down.  He also had tons of religious artwork in churches destroyed.

 To off set the usual flooding, the monks built great drainage tunnels.

If trees could talk, this one would be able to tell us a lot.  Located on Abbey grounds, it could tell us if anything we believe to be true, actually is!!

Then it was back to Broadway where after a Skype chat with Becca and the new grand baby Finn, we headed out to find dinner.  Tomorrow we head south to Bath.