Anne Hathaway's Cottage reopens early after works

Anne Hathaway's Cottage has reopened to the public a month early due to visitor demand

Anne Hathaway's Cottage has reopened a month early after winter restoration work due to demand from the public.

The former home of William Shakespeare's wife-to-be is a popular tourist attraction in Stratford-upon-Avon.

The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust decided to reopen the cottage in time for February half-term after being contacted by potential visitors.

Prompted by the 400th anniversary of Hathaway's death, the trust is also embarking on an ambitious, multi-year project called The Women who Made Shakespeare.

Tessa Haynes, visitor experience manager at the cottage, said: "Visitors were talking to us and were saying when is Anne Hathaway's opening, and so we decided, especially because it was Valentine's Day on Wednesday, that it was better to pull it forward in time for half-term because that's what people wanted."

The cottage, which was originally a farmhouse, was built in 1463 and comprised only three rooms, two of which survive.

The first Hathaway to live in the cottage was Anne’s grandfather, John Hathaway, who was a tenant sheep farmer. Anne, later Shakespeare’s wife, was born in the cottage in 1556.

Originally a 90-acre farm, only nine acres of land still belong to the property, with work being done to re-wild some of the grounds.

Anne Hathaway was born and raised in the cottage

The Women who Made Shakespeare exhibition will focus on forgotten stories of the women who influenced Shakespeare during his lifetime.

Tessa Haynes said: "Anne Hathaway is probably the name everyone's most familiar with, Shakespeare's wife, but we'll also be looking at the women close to him and his family.

"We've got his mother Mary Arden, his sister Joan Hart, his two daughters Susannah Shakespeare and Judith Shakespeare, and his granddaughter Elizabeth Hall."

She added that a lot of the women's stories were "hidden", so the work would involve unpicking archives and trying to find out more about them.

"We think [Anne Hathway] would have been quite busy, she obviously would have been raising her family but she would have been managing a house and looking after the business as well," Ms Haynes said.

"We know she was brewing her own beer. We've found evidence to say that there was beer brewed at New Place and she would have looked after that."