This section of the page features an image gallery, so if you're using a screen reader you may wish to jump to the main content.

Shaw's Corner

Notice: We're having a new ticket kiosk (and shop!) built at the moment, which means our car park is even smaller that usual! Why not download our circular walk from Wheathamptead and come to us through the lovely Hertfordshire countryside.

Country home of playwright Bernard Shaw for 44 years

No dwelling place can rival Ayot:
So there I labour at my job,
And boil my kettle on the hob
Deeming I have the best of reasons,
For staying here through all the seasons.

Playwright, politician, philosopher and wit George Bernard Shaw lived in this Edwardian villa for over 40 years from 1906. When he moved in, he was at the height of his fame. If you'd been walking up the drive 70 years ago, you would have been coming to visit one of the most famous, most photographed and most quoted men in the world.

Today, his home remains much as he left it. You can walk from room to room, enjoying the beautiful Arts & Crafts interiors, and finding fascinating links with the past. The tranquil gardens are a restorative and relaxing place at any time of year. They provide you with a space to reflect on the wit and wisdom of this great man of words - and maybe find the inspiration to write masterpieces of your own.

Outdoor theatre

Professor Higgins in humourous despair after he starts to work with Eliza Doolittle. © Lizzie Dunford

Each year we host two productions of Bernard Shaw's plays.

This year the plays will be:

  • Candida, 22 - 24 June
  • Man and Superman, 20 - 22 July

Call the Box Office on 0844 249 1895.


Did you know?

  • That Bernard Shaw won both an Oscar and a Nobel Prize for Literature?
  • That he is still the only person to have done so?
  • That you can see them on display together here at Shaw's Corner?
  • That Shaw and William Morris were very good friends?
  • That we're working towards reinstating the original Morris curtains?
  • That Bernard Shaw was a music critic before he was a playwright?

Fancy getting more involved?

A volunteer room guide at Shaw's Corner, reads the property guide book. © Sue Morgan

There's plenty of volunteering opportunites at Shaw's Corner, with everything from selling tickets and talking to visitors about Bernard Shaw to directing the traffic and cleaning fine art.

Call us on 01438 820307.

Wheathampstead to Shaw's Corner circular walk

Image of recently excavated and restored old Wheathampstead Station Platform at Wheathampstead, where Bernard Shaw used to catch the train to London © Lizzie Dunford

A circular walk through the glorious Hertfordshire countryside, starting in the pretty village of Wheathampstead, following in the footsteps of the playwright George Bernard Shaw and...

Don't miss our events

A heat haze hovers over theatre goers at Shaw's Corner outdoor theatre © Lizzie Dunford

Whether it's outdoor theatre performed at the home of one of our great playwrights, or a guided walk around the area that he called home, we've got lots going on this summer.

Events at Shaw's Corner

Rain or Shine?