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  "path": "/news/william-shakespeare-family-home-risk-stratford-upon-avon",
  "publishedAt": "2026-04-28T05:15:45.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.gbnews.com",
  "tags": [
    "first ever vaccination",
    "Teenager arrested after huge blaze rips through historic Grade-II listed Big Mill",
    "Pub which inspired The Archers' local may be forced to shut down under Rachel Reeves's tax raids",
    "Iconic music venue that hosted Arctic Monkeys and Ellie Goulding converted into shisha cafe",
    "18th-century hospital on the register",
    "Oscar-winning film",
    "The GB News Editorial Charter"
  ],
  "textContent": "\n\n\nThe home which belonged to William Shakespeare's family is now at risk after being hit by a car.\n\nHall's Croft in Stratford-Upon-Avon was home to the playwright's first child Susanna, who lived there with her husband John Hall - as well as the last living descendant of Shakespeare, Elizabeth Bernard.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nThe Grade I-listed structure was reversed into by a car in October 2025, causing \"substantial damage\" to one wall and exposing antique timbers to the elements.\n\nHistoric England has now placed the 400-year-old building onto its official Heritage At Risk register.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nTRENDING\n\nStories\n\nVideos\n\nYour Say\n\nThe Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, an organisation which preserves Shakespearean heritage in Stratford-Upon-Avon, has pledged to have it removed from the register and restore the home.\n\nRachael North, chief executive of the trust, said: \"Hall’s Croft is a building of exceptional historical importance, and its condition demands a serious and sustained response.\n\n\"We take seriously our responsibility to care for this inheritance, so that it can continue to inspire curiosity, connection and understanding for generations to come.\"\n\nThe charity has already started work on a £1million conservation effort to stabilise the building.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nAn extensive restoration, however, could cost up to £10million and involve replacing the roof.\n\nHistoric England will monitor the work to preserve the site after it was added to the annually-updated list.\n\nLast year, notable sites added to the list included the hut where the first ever vaccination was performed and a Roman heating system on the Isle of Wight.\n\nThe quango delivers grants to preservation and conservation projects to Grade I and II listed buildings, last year contributing £7.4million to 123 entries.\n\n### WEST MIDLANDS HERITAGE - READ MORE:\n\n\n\n\n  * Teenager arrested after huge blaze rips through historic Grade-II listed Big Mill\n  * Pub which inspired The Archers' local may be forced to shut down under Rachel Reeves's tax raids\n  * Iconic music venue that hosted Arctic Monkeys and Ellie Goulding converted into shisha cafe\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nLast month, an 18th-century hospital on the register was awarded a total of £5million in funding.\n\nSusanna Hall was the elder sister to Shakespeare's twins Judith and Hamnet - whose death inspired the play Hamlet and more recently an Oscar-winning film.\n\nShe lived at the home for about three years before the death of her father in 1616, after which she moved to his main house New Place and took most of Hall's Croft's original furniture with her.\n\nThe home became a boarding school in the 19th century, after which it went through a series of owners, eventually being sold to the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust in 1949.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nSusanna's daughter Elizabeth was the only grannddaughter the bard met before his death, who in her second marriage wed Sir John Bernard.\n\nTheir family home, Abington Park in Northampton, is now a museum and public park.\n\nDeborah Williams, regional director of the Midlands for Historic England, said: \"Halls Croft is an internationally significant building and adding it to the Heritage at Risk Register is a positive first step in helping bring the building back into use.\n\n\"Shakespeare Birthplace Trust take their role as custodians of this shared history very seriously and they understand that being added to the at-risk register is the first step on the journey to be removed from it.\"\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n**Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter**",
  "title": "Shakespeare family home placed on 'at risk' watchlist after being hit by reversing car"
}