Shakespeare’s Schoolroom and Guildhall
Dating from the early 15th century, this is where a young Shakespeare went to school and where he was allegedly first introduced to the world of theater. Once the administrative center of the town, it now serves as a heritage center where visitors can see medieval wall paintings, including two of the oldest surviving Tudor roses in England, plus take part in a lesson in the room where Shakespeare was taught. Visitors can don period costumes and try writing with a pen and quill. In the 16th century, the Guildhall was where the city council once sat, including John Shakespeare, Shakespeare’s father, who was town mayor in the 1560s. Around this time it also became home to the King’s New School, and shortly afterward William Shakespeare attended as a pupil. On the first floor is the Guildhall proper, where traveling acting companies performed to obtain their licenses. Many historians believe that it was after seeing the troupe known as the Earl of Leicester’s Men in 1587 that Shakespeare got the acting bug and set off for London.
