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A charity in the United Kingdom is appealing for £500,000 (€572,000) to restore a historic house once occupied by family members of William Shakespeare.
Located in Shakespeare’s birthplace of Stratford-upon-Avon, Hall’s Croft was damaged in October when a car accidentally reversed into the building.
The crash caused no injuries but led to “substantial damage to the fabric of the building, damaging several seventeenth century timbers,” the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust (SBT) said in a statement.
The incident shattered several oak beams and left a hole in the building’s roadside wall, according to the BBC. It also further exposed the house’s vulnerabilities and need for restoration.
The oldest parts of the house’s surviving structure date back to 1613. At the time, it was home to the oldest daughter of William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway, Susanna Hall, and her husband Dr John Hall.
The couple left the house after Shakespeare’s death in 1616. It went through several owners before the SBT purchased it in 1949 and first opened it to the public two years later.
Hall’s Croft has remained closed since the Covid-19 pandemic.
The SBT launched a large conservation project of Hall’s Croft last year. The trust received a £1 million donation from American playwright Ken Ludwig, the largest private donation in its 177-year history.
“Shakespeare is the great foundation for all of us who work in the theatre,” Ludwig said at the time.
“As a playwright, restoring Hall’s Croft is a way of giving back for the lifetime of joy and inspiration I’ve derived from the British theatre,” he added.
The charity now says it needs additional help to begin repairing the Grade I-listed building after the car crash.
“Incidents like [this] are a stark reminder of how vulnerable our heritage is, and how vital it is that we continue to invest in its protection,” the trust’s chief executive Rachael North said.
Through its “Adopt-A-Beam” initiative, the SBT is appealing to individual donors for an initial push of £500,000, dedicated to keep specialist conservation teams on the ground and “unlock momentum” for further support.
The total cost of the restoration work is estimated at £2.5 million.
The SBT has described the effort as “fundamental stewardship of one of the most culturally significant houses in England.”