University of York researchers Dr Kate Giles, Dr Anthony Masinton and Geoff Arnott have created an online digital model of the interior of the guild chapel at Stratford. The reconstruction is based on evidence found in archival sources and drawings by antiquarians such as Thomas Fisher and Wilfrid Puddephat.
Doom Painting, Nave. Photograph by T. Marshall.
The guild chapel was rebuilt and redecorated in the late fifteenth century, and included a number of significant wall painting schemes paid for by the London mayor and Stratford merchant Hugh Clopton, a leading member of the Holy Cross guild. The 1804 chapel restoration saw the removal of plaster, which revealed Holy Cross scenes on the north and south walls, a Doom over the chancel arch (still partially extant), and a series of saints in alcoves in the nave. A Dance of Death was also recorded on the north nave wall.
The project is is an important example of how digital technology can be used for the study of medieval buildings and wall painting.
The research is written up in: Internet Archaeology, Vol. 32, 2012.
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