Hall's Croft

Hall’s Croft stands in Stratford-upon-Avon, a half-kilometre walk from the town centre along Church Street. The house is a grade I listed building from the early 17th century, built of warm red brick with stone dressings. It was the home of Susanna Hall, Shakespeare’s daughter, and her husband Dr John Hall after their marriage in 1607. The couple left in 1616 when they moved to New Place, the house Shakespeare had bequeathed to Susanna. The property passed through several owners, each adding parts such as the oak extension and the back hall. Inside the house visitors find rooms arranged around a central staircase with oak panelling and original fireplaces. A small exhibition explains how Dr John Hall practised medicine in the 17th century, using herbs from the walled garden. The garden itself is laid out with plants once used for remedies, including lavender and rosemary. Over the centuries the building served as a school, a private residence for writers like George Bernard Shaw, and a home for the MacLeod sisters who restored its 19th-century appearance. The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust bought the house in 1949 and restored it to its 17th-century form. A visitor walks through the ground-floor rooms where Susanna Hall once received guests. Upstairs the master bedroom shows later 17th-century craftsmanship added by Henry Smith. The walled garden offers a quiet space with box hedges and medicinal plants, giving a sense of how the household lived. The house still holds a collection of portraits and furniture from the 16th and 17th centuries. Although closed since 2020, the building remains preserved exactly as it was restored in 1951.