Even the Bard had to eat. Two hundred and fifty years after William Shakespeare's country house was demolished, researchers have unearthed the remains of a hearth and cold storage pit, as well as plates, cups, and cookware in New House, the Stratford-upon-Avon residence where Shakespeare lived for 19 years.
While the excavations by Staffordshire University's Centre of Archaeology are ongoing — the archaeologists hope to open to the site next summer for the 400th anniversary of the playwright's death — the kitchen marks one of the most thrilling discoveries yet, The Telegraph reports. New House's cooking areas, brew house, pantry, and cold storage pit indicate "a working home as well as a house of high social status," according to Dr. Paul Edmondson.
"At New Place we can catch glimpses of Shakespeare the playwright and country-town gentleman. His main task was to write and a house as impressive as New Place would have played an important part in the rhythm of his working life," Edmondson said.
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Some experts hope to prove that the Bard wrote many of his plays at New Place, rather than in London. Shakespeare bought the Stratford home in 1597; he died there in 1616.
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