Menu

450 year old Shakespeare’s connections with Preston

Posted on - 30th April, 2014 - 7:00pm | Author - | Posted in - Arts, History

Hoghton Tower

Advertisement

It was William Shakespeare’s 450th birthday this week, but did you know he may have spent a couple of those years in and around Preston?

A story that has baffled literary scholars for years, did Shakespeare spend some of his ‘lost years’ at Hoghton Tower or at the outskirts of Preston?

Advertisements
Preston Weekender advert

It is an intriguing thought that the greatest poet might have spent some of his adolescence residing near Preston.

Connections have been made between Shakespeare, Preston and Hoghton Tower.

The 1581 will of Alexander Hoghton, held at the Lancashire Records Office in Preston, shows a dedication to “William Shakeshafte”.

Advertisements

Alexander Hoghton Esq had a residence at Lea Hall just outside Preston at the time.

The will proved Shakespeare stayed at Hoghton Tower, and he changed his surname in order to avoid attracting the attention of anti-Papist authorities in Elizabethan England. Shakespeare had possible links to Lancashire families with known Catholic sympathies.

The Hoghtons, ‘de Hoghtons’ as they were then known, owned the Lea area of Preston as well as in Hoghton. They built Lea Hall on the south side of the Savick Brook, sadly no longer there. The Hoghton family still own land in Lea.

In his earlier years Shakespeare is said to have found “a home with a band of players in Lancashire” and this band eventually found its was to the Hoghton household.

A further theory states that John Cottam, who was a teacher in Stratford and could have been been one of Shakespeare’s tutors, moved to Tarnacre in Lancashire not far from the home of Alexander Hoghton, in whose household, of course, dwelt William Shakeshafte. Could it be that Cottam had Shakespeare to the Hoghtons?

Advertisements
barton manor gym

Shakespeare was baptised on 26 April 1564 and his actual birth date is unknown. He died on 23 April 1616, aged 52.

For more, read our previous article by Ryan Owen Gibson.

Share
Advertisements
caritas fostering advert
Preston in pictures Preston Bus 207 PO56 JDX (Scania N94UB / East Lancs Esteem)24.03.24 - Penwortham [Church of St Mary] 240323JPGDSC_7658 - Bus stationDSC_7676 - Miller ArcadeDSC_7681 - former Post Office, cenotaph and Town HallDSC_7682 - Central Methodist church, Lune StreetDSC_7668 - Fish (aka Box) MarketDSC_7672 - Miller Arcade View more Advertisement Subscribe to the newsletter

Sign up below to receive Blog Preston's email newsletter. It wings its way into inboxes every Sunday and Wednesday rounding up our top stories and more.

Advertisement News by location

Find news by location, select an area of your choice to be kept up to date with the latest goings on.

The Preston Guide

Discover local businesses and services near you.

    Advertisements
Advertisement Categories

Find news by category, select an category of your choice to be kept up to date with the latest goings on.

Blog Preston email updates

Receive our digest of the biggest and best stories every Sunday to your email inbox

We respect your privacy and you can unsubscribe at any time from our emails