Stratford Upon AvonNearby Tourist Attraction, Food Shopping, Short Term Mooring, Restaurant, Cafe, Fish & Chips, Take Away, Ice Cream,  in or near to Stratford-upon-Avon

Stratford-upon-Avon is where you find the southern end of the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal and is where the canal joins, via the historic lock, to the Warwickshire Avon.

It's a perfect place to moor up for a couple of days and simply take in the history and the sights, the theatres, the amazing statues.

It can be busy as it's a very popular tourist attraction.

Several pubs are within sight of the basin: Pen and Parchment, The Encore, The Arden, The Swan, Cox's Yard to name just a few.

There isn't much in the way of boaters facilities. No water, no refuse or elsan disposal. You can find all of these between lock 52 and the railway bridge (bridge 64), it's five locks up or about a mile.

BANCROFT BASIN
The terminal basin is one of the two that existed until 1930 when one was infilled to form Bancroft Gardens.

The basins were surrounded by the lines of the Stratford on Avon and Moreton Tramway completed in 1826 and extended to Shipston in 1836. Southbound coal was exchanged for stone and farm produce (see WA 1013). ‘Not until 1815 was the canal authorised to make a junction with the Avon. It finally did so in 1816. The river had been navigable from Tewkesbury during the 17th and 18th centuries, both canal and river came under Great Western Railway control during the 1860's. From 1875 the GWR refused to maintain the Upper Avon and it became derelict.’ It was restored in 1974.

In 1883 there were two basins with 10 coal wharves, 1 lead and glass wharf, a cider press, a cooperage, a skin yard and a timber yard.

Evidence for the construction and use of the canal basin was recorded during archaeological observation at Bancroft Gardens.

TRAMWAY BRIDGE
The Tramway Bridge has been grade 2 since 1951. Today it is a pedestrian bridge crossing the River Avon just upstream of the Basin lock.

The bridge was built in 1823, originally to carry a tramway track of the horse-drawn Stratford and Moreton Tramway. It was designed by John Rastrick. It consists of eight elliptical arches, is made from brick, with ashlar-coped parapets.

THE TRAMWAY
The Stratford and Moreton Tramway was a 16-mile long horse-drawn wagon-way which ran from the canal basin at Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire to Moreton-in-Marsh in Gloucestershire, with a branch to Shipston-on-Stour. The main line opened in 1826, whilst the branch to Shipston opened in 1836.

The tramway was used to carry Black Country coal to the rural districts of South Warwickshire via the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal. Limestone and agricultural produce went northwards.

Goods traffic was conveyed by licensed carriers in their own wagons. They could also purchase an additional licence costing £12 per year, to carry passengers.

By 1829, the tramway was making an operating profit, although the profits were not sufficient to pay off the considerable debts which the tramway had accrued during its construction.

The northern part of the tramway had fallen into disuse by the early 1900's and was dismantled in 1918. It has since been used as a public footbridge and is an important element in the landscape around the Royal Shakespeare Theatre.

The southern section between Moreton-in-Marsh and Shipston-on-Stour was converted into a steam railway in 1889 and continued in use as a minor branch line until 1960.

CLOPTON BRIDGE
At about 330 ft to the east of the Tramway Bridge is The Clopton Bridge. The bridge is now a Grade I listed building and a Scheduled Ancient Monument. It is a masonry arch bridge with 14 vaulted arches, crossing at the place where the river was forded in Saxon times, hence the name Strat-ford.

The bridge was built at around 1484, financed by Hugh Clopton of Clopton House, who later became Lord Mayor of London. It replaced a timber bridge which was first mentioned in 1235, and which had been described by John Leland as

"but a poore Bridge of Timber, and no causey [causeway] to come to it", "very smaulle and ille, and at hygh waters very harde to passe by".

Two arches were rebuilt in 1524. The bridge was again repaired in 1588 following flooding, and yet again in 1642 after an arch had 'been destroyed to block the army of Oliver Cromwell'.

In 1696, money was raised to elevate the parapets, which were as low as four inches in places. The bridge was widened on the north side (upstream) in 1811, and a ten-sided toll-house tower added in 1814.

A cast-iron footbridge was added to the north side in 1827.

John Leland described the new bridge as:          “a great and sumptuous Bridge upon Avon at the East Ende of the Towne, which hath 14 great Arches of Stone and long Causey made of Stone, low walled on each side, at the West Ende of the Bridge”.

BANCROFT GARDENS
The Bancroft Gardens, located on the bank of the River Avon and in front of the world-famous Royal Shakespeare Theatre, attract over a million visitors every year.

The Bancroft was originally an area of land where the townspeople grazed their animals, and the Canal Basin formed the terminus of the Stratford-to-Birmingham canal, completed in 1816. The Gardens also occupy the site of former canal wharf's, warehouses, and a second canal basin, which was built in 1826 and refilled in 1902.

The statue of Shakespeare is the work of Lord Ronald Sutherland Gower, and was presented to the town in 1888. The smaller figures of Shakespearean characters are of Hamlet, Lady Macbeth, Falstaff and Prince Hal; symbolising philosophy, tragedy, comedy and history.

The Country Artists Fountain was made for the 800th anniversary celebration of the granting of the Charter for Market Rights by King Richard I (the Lionheart) in 1196. The fountain was sculpted by Christine Lee and is made of stainless steel and brass. It was unveiled by the Queen in 1996.

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
We couldn't come to Stratford upon Avon and not mention William Shakespeare.

Probably the best-known English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist.

He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon" (or simply "the Bard").

His extant works, including collaborations, consist of some 39 plays, 154 sonnets, three long narrative poems plus several other verses

His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright.

He remains arguably the most influential writer in the English language, and his works continue to be studied and reinterpreted.

Shakespeare was born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, together they had three children: Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith.