This is Mary Arden's House, or as it is known now as Mary Arden's Farm.

The site is owned by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. There is a series of different farm houses, and they have farm animals on site!

From Station Road in Wilmcote.

It is now thought that Glebe Farmhouse was where Mary Arden lived until she married John Shakespeare (and not what is now called Palmer's Farmhouse).

It is Grade I listed.

Mary Arden's House and Attached Dairy, Wilmcote

ASTON CANTLOW

539/8/3 ASTON CANTLOW ROAD 19-AUG-03 WILMCOTE (East side) Mary Arden's House and attached dairy

(Formerly listed as: ASTON CANTLOW ROAD WILMCOTE Glebe Farmhouse and attached granary)

I Farmhouse and attached dairy. Early C16, altered and refaced in C19; mid-C17 dairy. Farmhouse originally timber-framed with wattle and daub and brick infill, almost completely underbuilt and refaced in C19 brick, save for most of cross-wing and dairy which are of regularly coursed lias rubble with some timber framing surviving to upper level of the former; plain tile roofs.

PLAN: Comprises a 3-bay hall range aligned east-west with a slightly later 2-bay cross-wing projecting to the north at the west end, the hall range originally consisting of a chamber bay, open hall bay and service bay and the cross-wing housing a kitchen open to the roof. A chamber was added over the service bay and a large chimney inserted in part of the former hall in the mid-C17; the stone dairy was added to the north end of the cross-wing at about this time. After this, the house was little altered save for the insertion of an upper floor in the kitchen range until the mid-C19, which is probably also the date of the lean-to dairy attached to the hall range.

EXTERIOR: South side has blind gable of cross-wing to left; main range with late C20 plank door to left and late C20 leaded casements to left and right of centre, latter with segmental head; gabled eaves dormers with leaded casements to left and right of prominent axial ridge stack with corbelled capping; all the casements are 2 light except the lower left which is of 3. Cross-wing has exposed square timber framing to upper floor on west side; 2 late C20 single-light leaded casements and plank door on ground floor and 3 late C20 2-light leaded casements on first floor; exposed queen-post truss to north gable end. North side of main range has 2 gabled eaves dormers, a late C20 leaded casement to centre and plank door to right; lean-to dairy addition to left of centre. Stone dairy attached to north gable end of cross-wing has half-hipped roof and late C20 leaded casements; external stone steps on east side leading to plank door with gable breaking eaves.

INTERIOR: Hall range has beam marking position of former partition to right of south door; late C20 replica of Victorian cast-iron range in fireplace; stone flag floor. C20 stone flag floor in kitchen that has partly reconstructed wash boiler next to fireplace. Plank doors throughout; stone shelves in lean-to dairy. Wide floor boards and exposed wall framing to both ranges. Hall range has exposed clasped-purlin queen-post roof in 3 bays with curved windbraces and braces to tie beams; some smoke blackening and evidence for a smoke louvre; identical roof in 2 bays to cross-wing, also with smoke blackening.

HISTORY: The hall range has been dated through dendrochronology to c.1514 and it is clear that the cross-wing was added very shortly afterwards. Recent research has shown that this is the house referred to in 1587 as previously occupied by Agnes Arden, widow, who would have taken it over after the death of her husband, Robert in 1556. Robert and Agnes Arden were the father and stepmother of Mary Arden and it is therefore at Glebe Farm that she would have lived until she married John Shakespeare and moved to Stratford in 1557.