It seemed to all be going on at Church of the Holy Trinity in Stratford-upon-Avon. And perhaps its most famous going-on was the graves of Anne and William Shakespeare. I paid the “concession” (senior citizen) price of one pound to get up to the chancel (in front of the altar) with the tourist crowd to see the stone slabs under which the Bard and his wife are buried. Well, part of the Bard. After recent radar scans, scientists say his skull is probably missing. The church also hosts concerts and plays.
In front of the church is a lovely, shaded cemetery with benches and mostly unreadable moss- and lichen-covered tombstones, providing respite for travelers and the genealogist I met looking for his Morris family names.
There is also a tearoom at the back of the church, complete with tables and chairs and three lively women. The day I visited, they were selling cakes and “Cheeky Rascals,” four-inch-wide cookie-like scones decorated with almond-and-cherry faces, a take on the 12-inch wide Fat Rascal, made famous at Bettys, a tearoom in York.*
How much should go on at—or inside—a church? Just baptisms, weddings, and other official religious ceremonies? Or might famous pay-to-see tombs, concerts, plays, and Cheeky Rascals for sale help a church keep the common touch for everyone in the community . . . including a weary tourist getting handed a cup of tea by a friendly face?
* See also “Cream Tea in Bettys Tearooms.”
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