In the 13th century, the Guild of the Holy Cross – a religious and social organisation of merchants – received permission to build a chapel and hospital in Stratford-upon-Avon. Over time, the former building was adorned with elaborate wall paintings depicting vivid scenes of the Day of Judgement, the deeds of saints, and the life of Adam, for the contemplation of the congregation. These murals fell foul of the iconoclastic religious reforms of the 16th century, however, and the local council demanded their removal. The town bailiff who authorised the payment of two shillings for ‘defasyng ymages in ye chapell’ (though the destruction appears to have been limited to covering the offending images with limewash – many of them were rediscovered in the 19th century) was one John Shakespeare, father of the famous playwright. His illustrious son went to school in the striking timber-framed building that still stands beside the chapel, and there recent analysis of further long-obscured wall paintings has shed light on the beliefs and interests of the guild members.
Today ‘Shakespeare’s Schoolroom & Guildhall’ is a visitor attraction (see ‘Further information’), but the hall was originally built c.1420 as the new headquarters of the Guild of the Holy Cross. It was where they kept their counting house – where meetings were convened and the guild’s records and funds were stored (in this space visitors can still see the original muniments chest that once safeguarded deeds, charters, and money, and can watch a short film introducing the building’s history). The hall also held the Court of Record, where local commercial disputes could be heard. A key part of the complex, however, was the priests’ chapel, where ecclesiastical guild members could say private prayers – but in the mid-16th century, the suppression of religious guilds that took place under Edward VI saw the building take on a rather more secular function. From 1553, the guildhall housed Stratford Borough Council, and 15 years later the King’s New School moved into its top floor (a young William Shakespeare is believed to have joined its ranks c.1571). For centuries, the former guildhall remained at the heart of local civic life, until the Victorian period when the council moved to the new, larger premises of the Town Hall in 1848.
Altered images
In the same way as the neighbouring guild chapel, religious images in the priests’ chapel were covered over during the 16th century. They would remain hidden from view for hundreds of years – but in 2016, during conservation work that was undertaken when the guildhall was set to open to the public for the first time, traces of the room’s once-colourful decorations were brought to light once more. Above the altar was a triptych showing God the Father cradling a crucified Christ, with figures of the Virgin Mary and St John the Evangelist on either side – and while these images, which had been painted directly on to plaster, had been reduced by time to fragmentary silhouettes, a depiction of John the Baptist on a nearby timber was strikingly well preserved. Since then, detailed analysis by York University archaeologists has revealed more details of the altar paintings, as well as helping to establish the phasing of the guildhall itself through dendrochronological analysis of some of its timbers. More recently still, research by architectural historian and broadcaster Dr Jonathan Foyle has shed intriguing new light on the paintings’ probable date, and the hidden meanings embedded in their imagery.
