The view through the British Isles.

This work of art, consisting of a sheet of steel with a cut-out map of the British Isles, is situated in the garden of Anne Hathaway's Cottage. Anne was, of course, the wife of William Shakespeare.

The cottage is in Shottery, a hamlet within the parish of Stratford but just over a mile from the town centre. Today much of the land between the hamlet and town has been built over, but in Shakespeare's day they were two very distinct settlements, separated by open fields. The cottage was the childhood home of Anne, the daughter of a yeoman farmer, Richard Hathaway. Richard died in September 1581, bequeathing Ann £6 13s 4d 'atte the day of her maryage': this marriage, to William Shakespeare, took place in November of the following year.