New Place Gates

I went into Stratford this morning for a dental appointment.
Just around the corner to the dentist's surgery is New Place, the site of Shakespeare's home from 1597 until his death in 1616. At the time, New Place was the largest house in the borough. In 1759 the house was demolished (to much outrage as you can imagine)   by its then owner. 
New Place is now owned by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust along with several other properties in and around Stratford such as Shakespeare's Birthplace, and Anne Hathaway's Cottage.
In August this new gate (on the left) was unveiled, after months of work and about £6 million having been spent on transforming the site. The gate is huge and is made of elm and oak - and to be honest I'm really not sure if I like it. It seems very out of place at the moment, for its sheer size if nothing else. It has been erected on the site of the original gatehouse in Shakespeare's day. Parts of the design on each side of the gateway are made of copper and are already marked towards the base where dogs have cocked their legs. I suggested to these gatemen that they should entice a few Great Danes to it so that it becomes evenly marked all over. 
Behind it to the left is the King Edward V1 School (a.k.a. KES, a grammar school for boys, where Shakespeare attended) and to the right is the Guild Chapel. You can't see on here, but to the right slightly more and about 200 yards down the road is where I lived from when I was born until I was about 6 years old. 
The garden behind here used to be free for anyone to enter and they were the loveliest gardens in Stratford. They have now been incorporated into New Place itself and so unless you have a CV37 postcode, you must pay for entry. It used to be a lovely place to take a baby in a pram or toddlers to play in complete safety as it was surrounded by a high wall, and the gardens were beautiful. 
We no longer have a CV37 postcode (although we pay council tax to Stratford District Council and have a Stratford phone number) so alas we can no longer visit for free. 

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