Hedingham Castle - The Birthplace of Shakespeare

I have loved William Shakespeare all my life -- even as a little girl when my mother would tell me Shakespeare stories at bedtime.

When I fell in love for the first time, William was there with his sonnets ... "Let me not to marriage of true minds admit impediments ..."

And the thousands of otherwise lonely hours of research for my graduate thesis, sitting on the floor of the library, leaning against the stacks, studying the makings of the man and the times in which he lived.

Crossing over the threshold, with the castle keep rising high over the trees in the near distance, was a kind of Alice down-the-rabbit-hole experience; so familiar was I with these images I had lived with for so many years, it was both thrilling in its newness and moving in its nostalgia.

Here I was at Castle Hedingham -- the De Vere ancestral home built on land granted by William the Conqueror after the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Aubrey De Vere was one of William the Conqueror's most favoured knights. His son Aubrey II was the De Vere who built the castle at Hedingham around 1140 using the Archbishop of Canterbury as his architect. Aubrey III was the first De Vere to begin the earldom when he was made the First Earl of Oxford by Queen Matilda. Castle Hedingham remained the stronghold of the de Veres for 550 years and is still owned by a descendant.

Designs by The Shakespeare Shoppe

Dare To Be Men's T

Dare To Be Women's T

De Vere Button

This descendant, Jason Lindsay, was working in the garden when I arrived. He was getting ready for the medieval tournament that was going to take place the following day. He greeted me cautiously; unbeknownst to me, the castle grounds were closed that day. However, he graciously allowed me to look around the gounds and even opened up the keep so that I could wander about the place on my own.

I turned to walk across the magnificent brick bridge that led to castle keep.

Designs by The Shakespeare Shoppe

Oxfordian Tote

De Vere Keychain

What Fools Bumpersticker

De Vere Bumpersticker

What Fools Button

De Vere Crest Keychain

I walked along a grassy embankment on the edge of the woods and turned around a bend to the castle keep towering in front of me. I couldn't help but imagine the procession of Queen Elizabeth I making the same approach almost 450 years ago.

John De Vere and his young son Edward had the honor of escorting Elizabeth to her coronation. Four years later, on August 14th, 1561, the Queen came to Hedingham as part of her "summer progress" through her kingdom. On these summer processions, the nobles of the different counties received the Queen and her huge caravan of hundreds of courtiers for days of festivities and entertainments.

This is where Edward De Vere spent much of his earliest years wiith his indifferent mother and distant father. His father supported a traveling troupe of players who, when not touring in the provinces, were in residence at the castle to entertain the family. One of these players, Will Somers, a jester who was formally employed in King Henry VIII's court, provided the lonely young earl with commeraderie that would be remembered in Hamlet's heartfelt soliliqy: "Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him well ... a fellow of infinite jest of most excellent fancy. He hath bore me on his back a thousand times ..."

There are four floors to the castle keep. I entered through the cellar entrance and climbed the stairs to the magnificent banquet hall. It is spanned by a 28-foot Norman arch, one of the largest in England. Overhead could be seen the minstrel's galley, a place where I imagined young Edward, peering down on the queen's courtiers dancing.

The minstrels' gallery is a great perch built within the thickness of the 12 foot walls.

The famous Earl of Oxford title became extinct when Aubrey De Vere (1626 - 1703) died leaving no sons. His daughter, Diana married Charles, the 1st Duke of St. Albans, the illegitimate son of Nell Gwynne and King Charles II.

Sir William Ashhurst, M.P., Lord Mayor of London purchased the estate in 1713 at which time he made improvements by landscaping the grounds and building the beautiful Georgian country house which remains to this day.

Sir William Ashhurst's great granddaughter, Elizabeth Houghton, wife of Lewis Majendie, inherited the estate and kept Hedingham in the family for 250 years. Miss Musette Majendie left the estate to her cousin, The Honourable Thomas Lindsay, who is descended from the de Veres through both his mother and his father and it is his son, Jason and his wife Demetra who now live at Hedingham with their three small children.

The family makes the castle and its grounds available for private weddings and special events and also hosts a variety of art fairs, medieval tournaments and other festivals. They also welcome visitors during regular hours of operation for tours, picnics or just enjoying the immaculately maintained gardens.