Shakespeare's New Place saw the restoration and redevelopment of Shakespeare's house; a project that sat at the heart of the global celebrations in 2016 to commemorate 400 years of Shakespeare's legacy.

This exciting project costing £5.25m, enables visitors to walk in Shakespeare’s footsteps through a new entrance on the site of his gatehouse, trace the footprint of his family home in a contemporary landscape setting and discover the story of the world famous playwright at the height of his success.

New Place was William Shakespeare’s family home from 1597 until his death in 1616. He wrote 26 of his best-loved plays during his time there and in 1702 it was drastically remodelled before being demolished in 1759. Following public disapproval, the site was preserved and passed into the care of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust in 1876.

Lovell Stone supplied 200sqm of iconic Chicksgrove Stone, a cream coloured Limestone nationally renowned as one of the country’s finest building stones. Chicksgrove was used for external paving and supported a complex landscape design which incorporates 154 inlaid metal darts, representing Shakepeare’s 154 sonnets.

Each dart is numbered in sequence and includes an opening line to each sonnet, leading visitors through the site. A spiralling main feature is divided into 37 segments, representing Shakepeare’s 37 plays and aims to demonstrate the power of his work, pulling visitors through the landscape into the house itself.

For more information on the project and the work of the Shakespeare’s Birthplace Trust, visit www.shakespeare.org.uk.