Guild Chapel, Stratford-upon-Avon

Defacing images in the chapel... That was one of the jobs carried out by John Shakespeare, William’s father, in the early 1560s. As Stratford’s chamberlain, he helped oversee the whitewashing of religious paintings on the walls of the Guild Chapel. The work followed the religious reforms of Elizabeth I, which called for images associated with Catholic worship to be removed or covered. John Shakespeare received only two shillings — a small payment, rather — for helping to erase some of Stratford’s finest medieval art.

The Guild Chapel of the Holy Cross has its origins in the 13th century and stands on Church Street, directly opposite New Place, the site of Shakespeare’s later home. Much of the chapel you see today dates from the late 15th century, when the wealthy Stratford merchant Hugh Clopton, who also owned New Place, financed major rebuilding and decoration. Among the paintings added to the interior was a dramatic Doom, showing Christ judging the souls of the dead.

There is a certain irony here: decades after Clopton paid to decorate the chapel, Shakespeare’s father was involved in covering those same religious images.

After the Reformation, the Guild was dissolved, and the chapel passed into civic use. It has long been associated with the nearby King Edward VI School, where Shakespeare is traditionally believed to have studied.

Step inside and look toward the chancel arch. Traces of the medieval wall paintings survive here, including the remarkable Doom. Other paintings once included saints and a Dance of Death, reminding medieval worshippers that death came for everyone, regardless of their wealth or status.

From the outside, the chapel is relatively restrained, with pale stone walls and a tall western tower. Inside, however, its surviving paintings reveal a much more colourful medieval past. Although a listed property, the building remains an active chapel, including for services connected with King Edward VI School.