| Harvard House & Museum of British Pewter |
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The building now known as Harvard House, in High Street, Stratford-upon-Avon, was built in 1596 by a wealthy townsman, Alderman Thomas Rogers, who had twice served as High Bailiff. It was said of him in 1595 that 'besides his butcher's trade, which until now of late he always used, he is a buyer and seller of corn for great sums and withall useth grazing and buying and selling of cattle'. His initials are carved on the front of the house (with a bull's head to denote his trade) together with those of his wife Alice and his eldest son, William (then aged eighteen), and the date 1596. There is documentary evidence that the fires of 1594 and 1595 caused substantial damage in this part of the town and this no doubt partly explains why the property was rebuilt at this time. The elaborately carved façade, by far the richest example in the town, is testimony to Rogers's wealth and standing. Rogers, as befitted this status, owned not just Harvard House but also the buildings to the north, on the site of today's nos 27-28 High Street. From architectural evidence, it seems unlikely that these were also rebuilt at the time nor has it yet been established that there was proper internal communication between them and Harvard House. All that can be said is that the original staircase for Harvard House seems to have been positioned in a projecting turret in the rear courtyard: this could also have given access to the upper floor of nos. 27-28. At some point in the mid seventeenth century, the Rogers' family, who remained owners of nos 27-8 until at least 1707, sold off Harvard House to John Capp, a blacksmith. This seems to have led to the removal of the external turret staircase and the rebuilding of the staircase within the walls of the house. Then, following the building, or rebuilding of a rear extension, this staircase was moved to its present position. The Capp family continued their blacksmith's business there until about 1725. Thereafter the property was let to a series of tenants, booksellers in the early 1730s and 1760s, a plumber during the years 1734-1747, and a succession of ironmongers from 1782 until 1801. They were followed by Thomas and Harvey Williams, breeches makers, in occupation until 1871, when the premises became an estate agent's office. In 1909, at the suggestion and subsequently enthusiastic support of Marie Corelli, the freehold was purchased by the American millionaire, Edward Morris of Chicago. After restoration, the building was given to Harvard University. The link with Harvard dates from 1605 and the marriage in Stratford in that year of Katherine daughter of Thomas Rogers, the builder of Harvard House, and Robert Harvard of Southwark, like Rogers also a butcher. It was their son, John, born in 1607, who emigrated to America in 1637. On his death he left half his estate and his library to help found a college at Cambridge, Massachusetts, re-named Harvard College after him by an order of 1639. Harvard University, through a British trust, administered the property until the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust assumed responsibility for it. In 1996, it became the Museum of British Pewter following the generous donation to the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust of the Neish Pewter Collection and the fitting out of Harvard House to accommodate it. |
