Mary Arden's Farm, also known as Mary Arden's House or Glebe Farm, is the farmhouse of

Mary Shakespeare Mary Shakespeare (née Arden; — September 1608) was the mother of William Shakespeare. Biography Mary was born about 1536 in Wilmcote, the daughter of Robert Arden, a gentleman farmer and junior descendant of the Arden family, who were pro ...

(née Arden), the mother of

Elizabethan The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The Roman symbol of Britannia (a female per ...

playwright

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

. Because of confusion about the actual house inhabited by Mary in the mid-sixteenth century, a nearby farm had previously been preserved as "Mary Arden's Farm", but has been subsequently renamed Palmer's Farm. Both are

grade I listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

and located in the village of

Wilmcote Wilmcote is a village, and since 2004 a separate civil parish, in the English county of Warwickshire, about north of Stratford-upon-Avon. Prior to 2004, it was part of the same parish as Aston Cantlow, and the 2001 population for the whole a ...

, about three miles from

Stratford-upon-Avon Stratford-upon-Avon ( ), commonly known as Stratford, is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon (district), Stratford-on-Avon district, in the county of Warwickshire, in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands region of Engl ...

Glebe Farm

The house that belonged to the Arden family is Glebe Farm, near to Palmer's Farm. A more modest building, it had been acquired by the

Shakespeare Birthplace Trust The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust (SBT) is an independent registered educational charity based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England, that came into existence in 1847 following the purchase of William Shakespeare's birthplace for preser ...

in 1968 for preservation as part of a farmyard without knowing its true provenance. The building has lost some of its original timber framing and features some Victorian brickwork, but it has been possible to date it through

dendrochronology Dendrochronology (or tree-ring dating) is the scientific method of chronological dating, dating tree rings (also called growth rings) to the exact year they were formed in a tree. As well as dating them, this can give data for dendroclimatology, ...

to c.1514.

Palmer's Farm

A house wrongly identified as Mary Arden's (it actually belonged to a neighbour) was bought by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust in 1930 and refurnished in the Tudor style. This

timber-framed Timber framing () and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy Beam (structure), timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and Woodworking joints, joined timbers with joints secure ...

house has been maintained in good condition over the centuries. In 2000, it was discovered that the building preserved as Mary Arden's house had belonged to a friend and neighbour, Adam Palmer, and the house was renamed Palmer's Farm.

Houses and farm

The houses and farm are presented as a "working Tudor farm". The farm keeps many rare breeds of animals, including Mangalitza and Tamworth pigs,

Cotswold sheep The Cotswold is a British breed of domestic sheep. It originates in, and is named for, the Cotswold hills of the southern midlands of England. It is a large long-woollen sheep, and is kept as a dual-purpose breed, providing both meat and wool. ...

, Longhorn cattle, Bagot and

Golden Guernsey The Golden Guernsey is a rare breed of dairy goat from Guernsey in the Channel Islands, where it has been known for more than two hundred years. In 2024 it received a Royal title from King Charles III and is officially the Royal Golden Guernse ...

goats, geese and birds of prey, including a

hooded vulture The hooded vulture (''Necrosyrtes monachus'') is an Old World vulture in the order Accipitriformes, which also includes eagles, kites, buzzards and hawks. It is the only member of the genus ''Necrosyrtes,'' which is sister to the larger '' Gyps ...

References

External links

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Mary Arden's actual farmhouse - not Palmer's Farm
{{coord, 52.2208, -1.7618, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Farm museums in England Historic house museums in Warwickshire Grade I listed houses Grade I listed buildings in Warwickshire Timber framed buildings in Warwickshire