Shakespeare fans and archaeologists can now join in the exploration of Shakespeare’s last home on-line, in a new website launched by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. The brand new website supports the groundbreaking archaeological exploration of New Place in Stratford-upon-Avon, which began earlier this month in a bid to reveal new information about Shakespeare’s later life.

www.digforshakespeare.com has been designed to keep potential visitors, as well as Shakespeare fans throughout the world, up to date with the latest news from the archaeological dig at New Place. The website has been created to keep the dig accessible to visitors young and old, incorporating a clip library with the latest footage of archaeologists at work, interviews with experts and volunteers involved in the dig, and background material about what the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust is hoping to find.

To keep younger visitors entertained, the site also contains a fun game (http://www.digforshakespeare.com/dig-for-shakespeare), where children can literally join in a virtual dig, playing as an archaeologist digging for Shakespeare goodies in the soil below New Place. Each time they make a find, they are rewarded with a quote from a Shakespeare play – and they can also record their scores in a bid to be the top virtual archaeologist –making a visit to digforshakespeare.com fun, challenging and educational!

“ Dig for Shakespeare really is a whole new visitor experience – people can come down to New Place and watch the excavation as it unfolds, or if they are not local, they can keep up to date with the latest news and blogs from the dig via the new website,” explains Director of the Trust, Diana Owen. “The dig has been a real success with visitors, with many of them are keen to find out about the latest discoveries after their visit to the site. The extent of the dig is changing on a daily basis at the moment and this is the perfect way of letting them know what’s happening.”

The website will be updated every few days, including blogs from the Birmingham Archaeology team – the archaeologists conducting the dig – as well as the army of volunteers who have signed up to lend a hand with the huge task of excavating the site.

The dig  sees archaeologists exploring three key areas of the site where Shakespeare’s final home, New Place, would have stood. Even though it is relatively early days for the dig – which will remain active until September 2010, and open to the public until the end of October – archaeologists have already revealed the brickwork of Shakespeare’s bay window, where he may have gazed out whilst writing one of his later plays. Work is also underway to explore what is believed to be the servants’ yard – an area between the house and the great garden – that possibly housed rubbish or cess pits.

Visitors can walk along a specially constructed platform around the edge of the digs, where they are literally able to look over the shoulders of archaeologists at work and watch as exciting finds are pulled out of the ground – some of which will not have seen the light of day since Shakespeare himself lived there!

The Dig for Shakespeare at New Place in Stratford-upon-Avon is open to the public daily until the end of August 2010, from 11.00am to 5.00pm (last entry 6.00pm during July & August). For more information, please visit www.digforshakespeare.com or call +44 (0)1789 204016.