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Stratford was
founded in 1196 when the Bishop of Worcester advocated building a
town on the land where the road from Banbury crossed the River
Avon. The name is a corruption of "strete ford" -
where the street fords the river. From the beginning, it was
intended to be a market town, and craftsmen and merchants were
encouraged to settle. At the end of the 15th century, the
town's magnificent stone bridge was built by Hugh Clopton, a local
man who later became Lord Mayor of London. Substantial
half-timbered houses were built as the town continued to prosper,
and many are in existence to this day. When Shakespeare's
plays were first published in 1623, seven years after his death,
many people came to visit the place where the great writer had
lived and was buried. They have been coming ever since, and
now Stratford-upon-Avon is the most visited place in England
outside London.
(More
text appears on the map, describing the
Butterfly Farm, the Grammar School and Guild Chapel, Halls Croft,
Harvard House, Holy Trinity Church, Nash's House, the Royal
Shakespeare Theatre, Shakespeare's Birthplace, the Shire Horse
Centre and Hidcote Manor Garden).
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The map lists
other places in the city which can be visited,
giving the map location in each case. Below are a few
samples of the types of places shown; the actual list is
much more extensive. The usual alphabetical street index is
published beneath the map itself. In the Restaurants
section, the type of cuisine and average meal costs are
indicated. Telephone numbers and quality assessment ratings
are given for the hotels and B&Bs.
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