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Shakespeareland

Ticking off the tourist attractions of William Shakespeare's old stamping ground in a rather grand Rolls Royce.

Amateur film 1932 9 mins Silent

From the collection of:

Logo for Media Archive for Central England

Overview

W.H. Williams of Wootton Wawen in Warwickshire recorded his family's stylish outing in a wonderful Rolls Royce to nearby Stratford-Upon-Avon. In a typically home movie style we are also treated to a preamble at home with the pet dog before the gentle trip in the Rolls. The opening of the new Shakespeare Memorial Theatre by the Prince of Wales (the future King Edward VIII) on 23 April 1932 also features in this genteel look at the town's ever popular tourist haunts.

The building opened by the Prince of Wales on Shakespeare's 368th birthday in 1932 replaced an earlier theatre destroyed by fire in 1926. The building was renamed the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in 1961.