Clevedon-based engraving firm Brunel Engraving has completed a major contract at a new heritage site in Stratford-upon-Avon commemorating William Shakespeare.
The firm produced more than 500 individually engraved bronze and steel items for Shakespeare’s New Place, which opened to visitors in August.
The site, Shakespeare’s family home from 1597 until his death in 1616, has been transformed by The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust to mark the 400th anniversary of the Bard’s death. 
Designed to reveal a “window on the world of William Shakespeare for the 21st century”, the centre features beautifully landscaped gardens and specially-commissioned artworks celebrating the playwright’s life and works.
Brunel’s specialists worked on all the intricate engravings throughout the site which feature, inscriptions, designs and lines from sonnets and plays – from an inscription on an oak and bronze gateway, which forms the entrance to the gardens, to an intricately designed pattern work etched on bronze circles throughout the grounds.
The engravings feature an intricate pattern that reflects the Tudor era, with the arced pieces forming circles of different sizes. These had to match exactly and their thin borders had to be perfectly aligned. Some pieces took more than three days to engrave because of their size, weight, the complexity of the image and depth of engraving. 
Brunel Engraving founder and managing director Martyn Wright said: “We are very proud to have made a lasting mark on this beautiful heritage site in Shakespeare’s home town. It will attract visitors from all over the world for many years to come.”
More than 18,000 people visited the site in its first month.
Martyn Wright, who has more than 40 years’ experience in the commercial engraving industry, formed Brunel in 1989. It works with a wide range of clients including the BBC, National Trust, the Royal Parks, Aston Martin cars and Marriott Hotels.
Pictured: Top right, detail of pattern engraving at Shakespeare’s New Place top left engraving of a quote from The Tempest; Bottom right, the entrance to Shakespeare’s New Place; Bottom left, engraving on the bronze gateway to the site
