Visiting Stratford: Shakespeare's Grave

After exploring Anne Hathaway's Cottage and Shakespeare's Birthplace, our next major stop along this vein was Holy Trinity Church.

This church is where he was baptized as an infant on April 26th, 1564; it is also the site of his burial.

Let's just say that this English teacher was in nerd/history heaven by this point.

The famous funerary monument of Shakespeare can be seen on the wall, pen-in-hand. Everything here is quite ornate!

William Shakespeare is buried RIGHT THERE. Right next to his wife. There's a bunch of other family members up there, too... but they aren't why I came to the church, now are they?

The stone slabs that cover their graves are facing the altar of the church, a common practice. I couldn't figure out for the longest time why it was "backward" from our perspective, but it makes total sense.

The inscription on his stone reads as follows (in modern spelling): "Good friend, for Jesus' sake forbear, / To dig the dust enclosed here. / Blessed be the man that spares these stones, / And cursed be he that moves my bones."

They were sure not to move his bones during the restoration of the church in 2008, lest they be cursed  by the bard for all time!

The baptismal font which was probably used during Shakespeare's baptism on April 26, 1564.

The extensive graveyard grounds at Holy Trinity Church.

The extensive graveyard grounds at Holy Trinity Church.

That last image is just a better shot from another trip to Stratford... just for good measure. It's a beautiful church in its own right, but it is dwarfed by the famous playwright's presence. However, I would strongly suggest taking some time to just sit and reflect in this gorgeous place, whether inside the building or on its beautiful grounds that sit right along the River Avon.

Speaking of which, we still had yet to see that famous river - and we saw so many other wonderful things in Stratford that had nothing to do with William Shakespeare!