In which Stratford church is William Shakespeare buried?

William Shakespeare is buried in Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon. The church stands beside the River Avon in Warwickshire and is formally called the Collegiate Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity.

Shakespeare was baptised there on 26 April 1564 and buried in its chancel on 25 April 1616, two days after his death. His wife, Anne Hathaway, and their eldest daughter, Susanna Hall, were also buried at Holy Trinity. The church is therefore often called “Shakespeare’s Church.”

His burial in the chancel was not simply a reward for literary fame. Shakespeare had acquired a share in the church’s tithes, giving him the right to be buried in this prominent part of the building. His grave is marked by an epitaph warning visitors not to disturb the bones.

The church also contains Shakespeare’s funerary monument, a wall-mounted memorial showing him with a quill. It is not Westminster Abbey or St Paul’s Cathedral: although Shakespeare became nationally celebrated, his burial remained in his hometown church.