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The hotly-anticipated release of the film adaptation of Maggie O'Farrell's novel Hamnet is just days away (it comes out on January 9). The film follows Shakespeare from early adulthood and beyond, exploring his experiences of love and loss along the way. Much like the book, the film appeals not just to fans of Shakespeare (the novel's protagonist) but anglophiles who are keen to see how director Chloe Zhao has translated 16th-century England onto the silver screen. Those keen to go one step further and actually step inside the film's world will be delighted to hear that you can stay in the farmhouse from Hamnet, which is used as the setting for Hewlands Farm, the childhood home of Agnes Shakespeare.
Though set in and around Stratford-upon-Avon, the playwright's birthplace, the film is largely shot in Herefordshire, with the village of Weobley posing as Stratford-upon-Avon. Cwmmau Farmhouse, a National Trust-owned cottage, was used as Helwand's Farm, the childhood home of Agnes Hathaway, and provides a picturesque backdrop for the couple's first meeting.
The house was built in the 1600s and is Grade II listed – meaning it has been awarded protected status by Historic England. Today, it is looked after by the National Trust and rented out to holiday makers. Accessed via a winding lane and with a traditional white facade striped with timber beams and leaded windows, it is the platonic ideal of an Jacobean farmhouse.
Many of the house's original features have been preserved, meaning a stay here is wonderfully authentic. The old kitchen remains in its original position with features such as bread ovens and stoves still intact (for actual cooking, there is a separate, modern kitchen which comes complete with a microwave and dishwasher). The house costs from £1,547 for three night's stay and sleeps 10 guests across five double bedrooms, two of which are furnished with grand four-poster beds.
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There is a bucolic scene surrounding the house, made up of fields, footpaths and a bridleway, from which you can access the Welsh Marches, the land on the border between Herefordshire and Wales.
If you are keen to spend a weekend in the romantic world conceived of by Chloe Zhao and Maggie O'Farrell, then we suggest you get booking Cwmmau Farmhouse sooner rather than later. Once the film is released, we suspect availability will be limited.
