The Man who Demolished Shakespeare’s House – Reverend Francis Gastrell

Newspaper report from 1858 about Reverend Francis Gastrell being sent into exile by the good folk of Stratford-upon-Avon

As our curiosity was aroused by this BBC news article about Reverend Francis Gastrell demolishing Shakespeare’s house in 1759, we thought we’d do a quick search for this tale in the Archive.

Our search was fruitful, as we found this newspaper report (published in 1858) that describes how Gastrell’s ‘cultural vandalism’ resulted in him being ‘sent to Coventry’ by the good folk of Stratford-upon-Avon.

West Middlesex Advertiser and Family Journal | 4 September 1858