It is not often in these times that a new stone effigy appears on the outer wall of a medieval church and very rarely in any period of history has such an effigy beeen of a woman and a commoner.
On Thursday 20th January 2022 two stone carvings were installed above the north transept door of Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon-Avon and both have been carved by Warwick-born sculptor Corin Johnson whose previous works include two of the Christian martyrs on the front of Westminster Abbey and the Lady Diana Memorial at Althorp. The new corbels at Holy Trinity are of Anne Hathaway and her husband William Shakespeare. They complete the restoration of the north transept where the Cotswold limestone had been eroded and the leaning cross on the top also had to be straightened.
It is wonderful to see Shakespeare’s wife being celebrated in this way. So often in the past the importance of women in history has been ignored and even vilified. Anne Hathaway was sometimes described by academics as an ignorant peasant and an unworthy partner for such a great man. We can’t accept that anymore.
During William’s long absences in London from1590 to 1613 his wife Anne made a good living as a businesswoman and brought up their three children by herself, although she tragically lost her only son, Hamnet, to one of those many diseases that Tudor families fell prey to. Her husband would not have got the news of his son’s death in time to return for the funeral so it is very likely that Anne walked alone beside the hearse to Holy Trinity Church, then stood alone as her 11 year old boy’s coffin was lowered into the grave.
The sculptor had a number of images of Shakespeare on which to model his carving.
However, definite images of Anne, don’t seem to exist. There is a drawing made by Sir Nathaniel Curzon in 1708 which is believed to be based on a portrait of Anne that was subsequently lost. That is the image that Corin used.
It shows a very attractive young woman with a mouth that looks ready to smile and bright, intelligent eyes that seem to twinkle. Although Tudor girls didn’t attend school, she must have learned to read from her male relatives who did attend Stratford Grammar School and she would have picked up how to do arithmetic in order to run her own business. Learning to write, however, is not so easy and it is probable that her brother Barnaby wrote her letters to London while she dictated them.
It is wonderful to see her image now on display and set in stone at the church where both she and William worshipped and where they are buried side by side in the chancel.
There is no doubt that Anne was abandoned by William and she had a difficult time but she was the one woman who remained true to him all his life and, no matter what their differences grew to be over the years, she kept his home fires burning. She was there for him on his return and ready to nurse him through his final illness.
I would like to add my personal thanks to the Friends of Shakespeare’s Church for funding and realising this ground breaking project.
