The plaque reads: “William Shakespeare 1564-1616 – Presented to the Stratford District Council by sculptor Roger Peters 1998 – Assisted Financially by the Stratford Shakespeare Society and Creative New Zealand”

A little trivia regarding the town name: On December 3, 1877, the name Stratford-upon-Patea was adopted, on the motion of William Crompton of the Taranaki Waste Lands Board. The supposed similarity of the Patea River to the River Avon in England led to the adoption of this name, and Crompton was known to have a literary turn of mind. There was a trend at the time to name towns after the birthplace of prominent British men. The William Shakespeare ‘connection’ led to the naming of 67 streets after Shakespearian characters from 27 of his plays. Today New Zealand’s only glockenspiel clocktower plays the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet three times a day.

Bust