What Is the Shakespeare Institute? Stratford’s Mason Croft Explained

The University of Birmingham's Shakespeare centre has been at Mason Croft on Church Street for decades. Here's what it is, what happens there, and why it's in the news.

By Alex Harrington 2 min read
Mason Croft covered in flowering creeper in 1913, when the novelist Marie Corelli lived there
Mason Croft in 1913, when Marie Corelli lived there (hand-coloured lantern slide). Photo: Edmund F. Arras, Public domain

The Shakespeare Institute is the University of Birmingham’s centre for the study of Shakespeare and the drama of his time. It is based at Mason Croft, the red-brick Georgian house on Church Street, a few minutes’ walk from Shakespeare’s New Place and the Royal Shakespeare Company’s theatres. In November 2026 it was suddenly in the news: the university plans to move it to its Edgbaston campus in September 2027.

On this page
  1. A research centre in Shakespeare’s town
  2. Mason Croft and Marie Corelli
  3. What happens there
  4. Why it matters now

A research centre in Shakespeare’s town

The university says the Institute was established in 1951 “to push the boundaries of knowledge about Shakespeare studies and Renaissance drama”. Its directors have included Allardyce Nicoll, Philip Brockbank, Stanley Wells, Peter Holland and Kate McLuskie. Today it is led by Professor Michael Dobson. Its honorary fellows include Sir Kenneth Branagh, Dame Harriet Walter, Sir Simon Russell Beale and Dame Janet Suzman.

It hasn’t always been in Stratford. According to Professor Dobson’s statement reported by the Stratford Herald, it spent a spell on the Birmingham campus and returned to Mason Croft in the 1980s under Stanley Wells.

Mason Croft and Marie Corelli

Mason Croft was built around 1724 for Nathaniel Mason, a lawyer. Its Historic England listing describes a seven-window Georgian town house with a later music room, panelled interiors and gate piers from the 1740s. It also notes that the novelist Marie Corelli, a “pioneer conservationist”, lived there from 1901 until her death in 1924. The house is listed at Grade II.

What happens there

The Institute teaches postgraduates: a Shakespeare MA in person or online, and a PhD and MA by Research. Its distance-learning students can take some modules on site. During the autumn and spring terms it holds Thursday seminars given by staff and visiting speakers. It is also home to the student theatre company, the Shakespeare Institute Players.

Behind the house, with its entrance on Chestnut Walk, is the Shakespeare Institute Library, which opened in 1995. It holds about 60,000 volumes, along with theatre archives, actors’ scripts, production photographs and posters, and a large collection of Shakespeare on film. University staff and students can use it, and outside researchers can apply for membership or visit.

Why it matters now

The university calls the move to Edgbaston “an opportunity for the Shakespeare Institute to thrive in a new setting”. Professor Dobson says he will resign rather than oversee it. He fears the taught courses won’t survive the move, and that the library could be broken up. The university hasn’t said what will happen to Mason Croft.

Two petitions, one started by the Herald and one by a former student, ask the university to think again. The actors Sam West and Dame Janet Suzman have backed the campaign. Read how to sign the petitions and our full story on the move.

Alex Harrington

Alex Harrington grew up in Stratford-upon-Avon and runs What's up, Stratford? as an independent guide to the town.

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