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Stratford-upon-Avon () is a market town in Warwickshire, England, on the River Avon, south east of Birmingham and south west of Warwick. The estimated population in 2007 was 25,505. The town is a popular tourist destination owing to its status as birthplace of English playwright and poet William Shakespeare, and receives an estimated 4.9 million visitors a year. The Royal Shakespeare Company resides in Stratford's Royal Shakespeare Theatre. ==History== Stratford has Anglo-Saxon origins, and developed as a market town in the medieval period. The original charters of the town were granted in 1196, making Stratford over 800 years old. The name is a combination of the Old English ''strǣt'', meaning "street", and ''ford'', indicating a site at which a road forded a river. The "street" was a smaller Roman road connecting the larger roads Fosse Way and Icknield Street. In 1769 the actor David Garrick staged a major Shakespeare Jubilee over three days which saw the construction of a large rotunda and the influx of many visitors. This contributed to the growing phenomenon of Bardolatry which made Stratford a tourist destination. Stratford was the gateway to the British canal network from the South West before the road and rail networks took over and its industrial past is often overlooked because of the town's association with Shakespeare. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Stratford-upon-Avon」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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