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Standing on the corner of Church Street and Chapel Lane, the Guild Chapel is one of Stratford-upon-Avon’s most iconic and important historic buildings.

Its rich history dates back to the 13th Century when it was built by the Guild of the Holy Cross, a prominent social and religious organisation. As the Guild grew and prospered, so did its chapel, becoming central to medieval life in Stratford-upon-Avon.

Today, almost half a millennia later, the Chapel’s rare and special wall paintings offer a unique glimpse back to that medieval past. What’s been (and continues to be) uncovered is one of the rarest series of medieval wall paintings in Europe.

These deathly depictions of the afterlife were banned following the English Reformation – a royal order acted on here in Stratford by John Shakespeare, father of the playwright. But rather than being destroyed, the paintings were instead covered with layers of limewash, waiting for centuries to be re-discovered…