About the arts venue
The building started life in 1830 as two fine plaster stuccoed villa-type houses. Later, for a short while the buildings were a school then, in 1876 they opened as Stratford-upon-Avon Convalescence Home and remained that way until 1940 when they became a maternity hospital. With the advent of the NHS in 1948 the building was sold to Stratford Corporation for office space. In 1985 the auditorium at the rear was added and the building became a community venue known as the Civic Hall. It was run for the last six years by Stratford Play House Ltd.