Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon-Avon
— — the river beneath the bones of the man who wrote them.
Not only on a wall.
“The parish church where Shakespeare was baptised in 1564 and buried in 1616. Limestone walls above a quiet bend of the Avon, willows leaning toward the water. Inside the chancel, his grave still carries the warning he left himself. A churchyard avenue of lime trees runs out to meet the river. Visitors come in steady twos and threes, then leave with the quiet of any English country church.
Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon-Avon, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
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The place, in three passes.
Holy Trinity is the parish church of Stratford-upon-Avon, on the north bank of the River Avon about half a mile south of the town centre. The present building dates from the 13th century, with the nave and chancel rebuilt in the 14th and 15th centuries. William Shakespeare was baptised here on 26 April 1564 and buried in the chancel on 25 April 1616, beside his wife Anne and other family members. The church remains an active Anglican parish in the Diocese of Coventry, drawing pilgrims, scholars, and worshippers from across the world.
The fabric is local lias and oolitic limestone, with a 15th-century perpendicular tower that carried a wooden spire until 1763, when it was replaced in stone by William Hiorne of Warwick. The avenue of pollarded lime trees leading from the gate was planted in 1872. Inside, the chancel preserves 26 misericords carved around 1500, including a fox preaching to geese and a mermaid with a mirror, alongside a chantry built by Thomas Balsall, dean of the collegiate church, who died in 1491.
The church is open daily for visitors and worship, generally 9am to 5pm in summer with shorter winter hours. Admission to the nave is free; a small donation, recently around £4 for adults, supports access to the chancel where Shakespeare's grave and his family memorials lie. The church asks for quiet and still photography near the grave. Sunday services and weekday Eucharist continue throughout the year, and parts of the building may close at short notice to accommodate them.