The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, the custodians of the Shakespeare family homes in Stratford-upon-Avon, have today (Wednesday 14 August) shared an update on its future plans for Mary Arden’s Farm this summer and beyond.
A spokesperson from the SBT said:
Mary Arden’s Farm will permanently house the Trust’s award-winning primary learning programmes. This commitment means that the Farm will be open across the school year to learning groups, home educators and local community audiences.
This decision follows the changes that were made during the pandemic to temporarily locate all our primary learning activities at Mary Arden’s Farm. Ensuring that children had the opportunity to engage with Shakespeare in a safe and secure environment. No other property in the SBT estate was suitable for this activity to take place.
We made this decision by prioritising our charitable objectives, ensuring that children from all backgrounds have the opportunity to have a first positive experience with Shakespeare.
This focus, important as it is, has meant significant changes to the operation of the property, including the use of internal spaces, access routes for visitors and ensuring the property is meeting the safeguarding standards for children. These changes have made it increasingly difficult to adapt the space from a learning focus to a general visitor, with increased costs on additional staffing.
We have delivered general visitor focused activity at the property each year from 2021 to 2023, including a summer programme where Mary Arden’s Farm was open every Saturday and Sunday during the school holidays. This and other events have only generated modest audience engagement, much less than we expected, and when linked with the pressures of adapting the venue to meet the needs of the audience as well as the quality and consistency of the offer, these activities are not currently financially viable.
As a self-sustaining and independent charity, the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust is not in a position to continue operating the property in this way and has made the difficult decision to reduce the number of public events at Mary Arden’s Farm in 2024. Focusing the property fully as a learning centre for primary school children.
Mary Arden’s Farm now welcomes over 3,300 children each year from across the country. Many of our workshops are already oversubscribed, due to repeat bookings and teachers looking for a unique educational experience for their pupils.
We are exploring future opportunities to organise community days for residents to access the property, as well as additional school-focused events for local children, ensuring that the community can still access this much-loved property.
The operation of the property as a working farm will continue, giving children the opportunity to engage with the animals as part of their visit.
On behalf of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, we want to thank all our audiences and stakeholders for their ongoing support, and we look forward to welcoming you to the other Shakespeare family homes this summer. With special events and activities included in the 12-month admission ticket, including our child-focused Nurture in Nature workshops every Wednesday at Anne Hathaway’s Cottage and artist-led activities every Sunday at Shakespeare’s New Place residents and visitors alike can come back and explore the Shakespeare story across the year.