The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust is celebrating a record-breaking year in 2016, the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, as it welcomed around 825,000 visitors to the five historic Shakespeare houses in Stratford-upon-Avon – a six per cent increase from 2015.

The Trust marked 400 years of Shakespeare’s creative legacy with a number of significant milestones, including a contemporary re-interpretation of Shakespeare’s New Place and the return of Shakespeare’s will to Stratford-upon-Avon for the first time since it was written. The Trust also co-hosted 750 Shakespeare academics from all over the world for the 10th World Shakespeare Congress in August 2016.

Dr Diana Owen, Chief Executive Officer of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, says: “The world’s eyes were on Shakespeare and his hometown of Stratford upon Avon for this special anniversary year and we’re proud to have played a huge part in these historic Shakespeare celebrations.

“More people than ever before connected with our work, which underpins our ongoing investment in the conservation of the Shakespeare family homes, the care of our world-class Shakespeare museum and archive collection and delivery of award-winning education programmes.

“We want to continue to share our expertise and the joy of his works with new audiences, and we’re delighted to be working on innovative initiatives for 2017 and beyond with a range of partners worldwide.”

The Trust’s 2017 programme includes a fascinating new exhibition at Hall’s Croft, drawing comparisons with Tudor and modern-day medicine, and a pop-up exhibition in Shakespeare’s Birthplace celebrating Shakespeare’s influence in South Asia as part of the British Council’s UK-India Year of Culture 2017 campaign.

Visit our sister site www.grouptraveloffers.com to save on group tickets to Shakespeare’s Birthplace.