Shakespeare's Spooks!, Stratford-upon-Avon, Guía del visitante y qué hacer cerca

Shakespeare's Spooks stands at 40 Sheep Street in Stratford-upon-Avon, in a house known as Shrieve's House, which has a long reputation as a haunted building. It is a good stop for anyone curious about the darker, spookier stories that sit alongside the town's famous literary history.

The story behind it

The house takes its name from William Shrieve, said to have served as an archer to King Henry VIII. Local ghost lore has grown up around the building over the centuries, and it is often described as one of the most haunted houses in the area.

The stories are vivid. Visitors have reported a figure with an axe at the top of the stairs, said to be Shrieve himself. Others describe a feeling of suffocation inside the house, an elderly woman who wanders the barn holding a candle, and the ghost of a Civil War soldier moving from room to room. These are legends and personal reports rather than proven fact, which is much of their charm.

What to look for

• Look at the frontage on Sheep Street and consider how old the building feels compared with its neighbours.
• Think about where the stories place each ghost: the staircase, the barn and the rooms in between.
• Notice how the house sits among the restaurants and shops of Sheep Street, a lively street for an evening stroll.
• Try to picture the street in the Tudor and Civil War periods that the ghost stories refer to.

Tips for your visit

• Allow around 15 minutes if you are viewing the house from the street, longer if you plan to go inside. Check current opening hours and access before you go.
• Dusk is a fitting time to arrive, when the street is quieter and the ghost stories feel more at home.
• Sheep Street is close to the River Avon and the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, so it fits easily into a wider walk.
• Wear comfortable shoes, since the best way to see this part of town is on foot.

See it on a quest

You can reach Shakespeare's Spooks on foot as one stop of Hidden Secrets in Shakespeare's Stratford-upon-Avon, a self-guided quest through the town. The app tells you about each place as you arrive and sets a puzzle based on what is in front of you, so you notice details you would otherwise walk past. You can start any time with no guide and no group to join, and one ticket covers the whole group.