In 1504 William had livery of his great-uncle Hugh's manors of Clopton and Little Wilmcote, and his lands in Stratford and Bridgetown.
Kaye has stated that "The Birches," the house Amy and Peregrine build together in the book, was based on a house that she and her sister Bets built in the Wilmcote Hill woods.
The minutes of the Stratford Corporation, 11 November 1584 (approximately a decade before the play), mention "the tythes of Wyncote", the very spelling of the village that appears in the Folio text of The Shrew.
Wilmcote |