AN APPEAL raising money to investigate Stratford’s history is underway.
The 11-week appeal aims to raise £22,000 to find out about some of the town’s oldest buildings and highlight them with plaques along Stratford’s ‘historic spine’.
The spine is the mile-long route from Shakespeare’s birthplace in Henley Street to his grave at Holy Trinity Church.
It includes all but one of the town’s Grade I listed buildings and nearly all of its Grade II properties.
So far, ten of the 18 planned plaques have been installed.
The project is being run by the Stratford Society – a team of local councillors and representatives from the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Town Trust, Stratforward and King Edward VI School.
Spokesman Kevin Bond said: “We are seeking financial support from the buildings’ owners, councils, tourist bodies and everyone interested in this very important town.
“We are keen to ensure information is made available and accessible. Those plaques already installed have been a great source of interest and we want to take this forward along the historical spine so the hundreds of thousands of yearly visitors realise the importance of the buildings they are passing and the stories they hold.”
Some of the buildings have already been investigated using tree-ring dating – a method to establish exactly how old a building is.
It revealed The Falcon was been built in 1624 – a century later than originally thought.
Stratford historian Bob Bearman, who founded the historic spine project, said: “Completing the dating of the wood used in many of Stratford buildings is telling us about when and how the town’s most important buildings were constructed – increasing our knowledge even further.
“This is of great interest to those of us living in or near the town and for visitors.”
Visit www.spacehive.com/historicspine to donate or find out more.
