LONDON — Something is rotten in the city of Stratford-upon-Avon. It’s the beam that supports the roof over the grave of William Shakespeare, and the church where he lies is urgently seeking $80,000 for repairs.
The Rev. Martin Gorick, vicar of Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon, said the problem was discovered three weeks ago by workmen on the roof of the church. They were alarmed to find bits of the beam falling off.
The beam supports the roof of the chancel, the part of the church where the altar stands and where Shakespeare is buried.
The church has raised nearly 1 million pounds in the past seven years for restoration work on the building, which is about 800 years old. Shakespeare was baptized there April 26, 1564, and the church’s burial register lists him as “Gulielimus, filius Johannes Shakspeare” (Wil liam, son of John Shakespeare).
After a career writing and staging his plays in London, he retired to Stratford in 1611 and was buried April 25, 1616. His wife, Anne Hathaway, also lies there.
Shakespeare was personally responsible for keeping the chancel in good repair after 1605, when he paid a sum of money to become a “lay rector,” a position that entitled him to a share of the tithe income of the parish. He made a poor job of it: Within a few years of his death, the chancel was reported to be in a ruinous state.
