30
BCD Special Report on
Historic Churches
17th annual edition
popularly known as the Dance of Paul’s,
because there was a similar painting at St
Paul’s around the cloisters on its north west
side, which were destroyed by the Duke
of Somerset during Edward VI’s reign.
In 1955, fragmentary traces of these
paintings were discovered on the north wall
of the nave by the painstaking photographic
recording and transcription work of the art
master of King Edward VI Grammar School,
Wilfrid Puddephat. Puddephat carried out
careful comparative analysis of the Stratford
scheme with surviving manuscript sources and
descriptions of similar schemes, such as that in
the Cemetery of the Innocents in Paris, painted
between 1424-5. He used these as the basis for
an exquisitely detailed reconstruction drawing.
On the south wall, Puddephat also discovered
fragmentary traces of scenes from the ‘Lyf of
Adam’, but he never attempted to reconstruct
the original appearance of these scenes.
Creating the model
Te frst stage in the creation of the model was
the recording of over 3,500 points of digital
data in a ‘refectorless electronic distance
measurement’ survey. Over 200 scaled
photographs were also taken and these sources
were combined to create a wireframe computer
aided design model. Te model was textured
and lit using a range of software programmes.
Digital photographs were taken of Fisher and
Puddephat’s drawings, held by the Shakespeare
Centre Library and Archives. Tese were then
applied to the walls as part of the textured
surface. Troughout, close attention was
paid to aspects such as the appearance of the
limewashed plaster and the colours of pigments
known to have been used in late 15th-century
painting. However, the model was not intended
to be ‘photorealistic’. Rather, it was deliberately
designed to display the antiquarian records
of the paintings ‘in context’, by supporting the
model with a website in which the historic
sources and details (what computer specialists
would term the ‘paradata’) behind the model
could be discussed (www.thearnott.com).
Te frst version of the model has now
been completed. It had not, however, been
anticipated that the model would itself become
a research tool, raising a series of further
questions about the ways in which previous
antiquarians recorded and interpreted the
evidence of Stratford’s painted scheme.
Research carried out in 2010 has revealed
important diferences between Fisher’s
drawings and Puddephat’s more accurate
photographic records of the paintings, taken
in 1955. Although some of these diferences
are minor, others change the possible
interpretation of the paintings in subtle ways.
We hope to be able to build these fndings into
new ‘layers’ and textures within the model,
allowing future scholars and visitors to explore
these diferences for themselves. Similarly, a
comparison of Fisher’s 1804 drawing of the Last
Judgement with that of EW Tristram, made
in 1928 and now in the Victoria and Albert
Museum (London), has revealed important
diferences, not only in the details of the
painting, much of which had been destroyed in
the intervening century, but also in Tristram’s
minute attention to the methods of painting,
and the relationship between the image and
the underlying wall surface. Tese diferences
refect Tristram’s scholarly interests as a wall
painting expert and as a conservator. Sadly,
they also reveal the devastating impact of his
conservation methods on the painting. Once
again, we hope to build these fndings into
the model as a series of layers of record which
can be compared and contrasted by visitors
and scholars with the surviving scheme.
Finally, we hope to use the model to
raise questions about the extent to which the
chapel paintings survived the early stages of
the Reformation. Stratford and its inhabitants
appear to have adopted an equivocal but
pragmatic attitude to the religious changes
of the 16th century. Te Guild Chapel is
perhaps most famous today for the fact that
in 1563–4, the accounts of the corporation
chamberlain, John Shakespeare (father of the
famous William), record the payment of 2d for
‘defasyng ymages in ye chapel’. However, it is
far from clear which images were destroyed at
this time. Stow’s reference and new research
within the archives suggest that the Dance of
Death, and possibly the Holy Cross sequence,
may have survived into the 17th century at least.
Connecting peoplewith heritage
For most parishes, fnancial priorities continue
to be the payment of parish share and the
maintenance of church buildings, rather than
the commissioning of new e-heritage resources.
However, for some, enhancing the quality
of the visitor experience may be one way of
maximising income from tourism. It can also
be a useful way of explaining the meaning
and signifcance of church buildings for the
increasing numbers of visitors who have no
background in church worship or history.
Collaboration between parishes, professionals
and academics can result in the production
of e-heritage resources which, rather than
removing visitors from the church experience,
encourage them to dwell longer, look harder,
and ultimately, understand more about this
important aspect of our cultural heritage.
Recommended Reading
Christianity and Culture DVD-ROM: www.york.
ac.uk/projects/christianityandculture
C Davidson, Te Guild Chapel Wall Paintings
at Stratford-upon-Avon, AMS Press, New
York, 1988
Heritage Technology website: www.
heritagetechnology.co.uk
JG Nichols, Ancient Allegorical, Historical and
Legendary Paintings on the Walls of the
Chapel of the Trinity, belonging to the Gilde
of the Holy Cross at Stratford-upon-Avon in
Warwickshire, from drawings made at the
time of their discovery by Tomas Fisher,
London, 1838
W Puddephat, ‘Te mural paintings of the Dance
of Death in the Guild Chapel of Stratford-
upon-Avon’, Transactions of the Birmingham
Archaeological Society, 76, 1960
J Solloway, Te Alien Benedictines of York, Leeds,
1910 (available online at www.archive.org/
details/alienbenedictine00solluoft)
D Stocker, ‘Te priory of the Holy Trinity, York:
antiquarians and architectural history’,
in L Hoey (ed), Yorkshire Monasticism:
Archaeology, Art and Architecture from
the 7th to the 16th Centuries, British
Archaeological Association conference
Transactions 16, Leeds, 1995
RB Wheler, Te History and Antiquities of
Stratford-upon-Avon, J Ward, London, 1806
Kate Giles
PhD is a lecturer in the Department
of Archaeology at the University of York. She is a
buildings archaeologist specialising in the recording,
archival research and theoretical interpretation of
historic buildings. She is particularly interested in the
potential of buildings archaeology to enhance the
understanding and management of historic buildings.
Anthony Masinton
PhD teaches historical
buildings survey and archaeological computing
in the Archaeology Department, University of
York. He also engages in professional practice
consulting on survey and visualisation for heritage.
He is a co-founder of Heritage Technology Ltd.
Geoff Arnott
MSc is a director and co-founder
of Heritage Technology Ltd. His professional
interests lie in the felds of 3D modelling
and animation of historic and modern built
environments. His clients include the Churches
Conservation Trust, Shakespeare Birthplace Trust,
Harewood House and the Yorkshire Museum.
Reconstruction of
the Guild Chapel
looking west. Te
left side of the tower
arch is decorated
with images of
the martyrdom of
St Tomas Becket
and a memento
mori scene, to the
right of the arch
are images showing
St George and the
dragon, and Te
Whore of Babylon.
(Image: Geof
Arnott/Heritage
Technology)