Back to exhibition

Saving Shakespeare's Birthplace

11. Shakespeare's Birthplace goes to auction

As the sale date approached, the Stratford and London committees joined forces but donations were not as large or numerous as had been hoped. Despite estimates in the newspapers that it would cost £5000 to buy the building, by the 11 September they had only raised about £1700. Some of this money went to purchase the cottages adjoining the Birthplace, leaving in the region of £1000 for the sale.

The auction took place on 16 September 1847 at the Auction Mart, London. The room was crowded and the sale started over an hour late at 1.45pm.

 

Auction Mart, St Bartholomew's Lane, London, 1829

A handwritten note states that the corner room on the first floor was the one in which the sale took place. A faint star has been pencilled onto the image to mark the correct room.

Drawn by Tho. H Shepherd. Engraved by W Watkins. Printed by Jones and Co, Temple of the Muses, Finsbury Square, London

See below for an image of the interior 



The interior of the Auction Mart, St Bartholomew's Lane, London 

 Artist unknown