Stratford-upon-Avon

Stratford-upon-Avon, town, Stratford-on-Avon District, Warwickshire, central England, on the Upper Avon River. Stratford-upon-Avon is famous as the birthplace of William Shakespeare; tourism is the basis of its economy. The town has wide, pleasant streets and numerous half-timbered Tudor houses, including the one, on Henley Street, in which Shakespeare was born. Nearby, at Shottery, is the cottage of his wife, Anne Hathaway. On the river is the Shakespeare Center, which includes a library and art gallery and the Royal Shakespeare Theatre (1932), where his plays are performed during an annual festival that originated in 1769. The playwright's grave is in the 12th-century Church of the Holy Trinity. Population (2001) 111,474.