Bancroft Gardens

Website: http://www.worldclassstratford.net

The Bancroft Gardens are located on the River Avon adjacent to the Royal Shakespeare Theatre.

Enjoy sunny days in the wide grass lawns and gardens with the backdrop of the river. Features include a human sundial celebrating the Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service, a new performance area and two fully accessible bridges over the canal basin and the lock.

There is also the magnificent swan fountain, Gower memorial (featuring Shakespeare and 4 characters from his plays) and an array of statues, flowers and seating areas.

The Bancroft was originally an area of land where the townspeople grazed their animals, and the Canal Basin formed the terminus of the Stratford-to-Birmingham canal, completed in 1816. The Gardens also occupy the site of former canal wharves, warehouses, and a second canal basin, which was built in 1826 and refilled in 1902.[1]

[1] source: http://www.stratford.gov.uk/community/leisure-1033.cfm