Graffiti in the Guild Chapel:
writing and carving on the chapel walls
Pamela Devine
Monday 21 October - White Swan Hotel - 6pm
The walls of the Guild Chapel in Stratford are covered with historic graffiti, some of it dating back over 500 years. Writing on walls was once commonplace, and there is a growing awareness that such graffiti constitute a valuable historical resource which should be preserved and recorded. Pamela’s talk will explain the context, then examine the graffiti left by medieval Guild members, William Shakespeare’s neighbours and contemporaries (perhaps even Shakespeare himself) and the people who have come and gone from the building in the centuries afterwards. The walls really do talk!
Pamela Devine graduated with a first-class honours degree in history in 2017, and has been a visitor guide at the Guild Chapel for over seven years. She has an extensive knowledge of the chapel and its medieval wall paintings, and has given numerous talks about them. She recently surveyed the chapel’s walls for its historic graffiti, the subject of her book, Writing on Shakespeare’s Walls: the historic graffiti in the Guild Chapel, Stratford-upon-Avon.
Report on the talk
A large group of people enjoyed a fascinating talk, illustrated with clear, detailed pictures of writings and drawings on the walls of the Guild Chapel, famous for its mediaeval wall paintings. The graffiti are not as obvious, but they are varied and fascinating and also tell the story of the chapel, they are clearly visible and not unusual. There are also some in the Guildhall and the school room. The marks were generally made by scratching with a sharp implement, mainly by ‘ordinary’ people. They date from the late 15th century until the mid-twentieth century. The marks in the Guild Chapel were not explored much until recently, but now Pamela has found about 200 examples of pictorial and symbolic graffiti. It is believed that Shakespeare may have written on the windows of his home at New Place.
The mediaeval marks include masons’ marks and ritual protection marks/holy signs known as ‘apotropaic’ (from the Greek) graffiti as they were intended to turn away evil. ‘Prayers in stone’ are normally found at entry points, eg, porches, archways, doors and windows. Crosses are very common as are compass/daisy wheel designs (also known as hexfoils/hexafoils); there are also concentric circles. Other patterns with endless lines, including pentangles are also common, and Solomon’s Knots, and all were designed to trap evil spirits. There are also Consecration Crosses, larger and usually painted in red. Three circles intersecting in the middle (a Venn diagram) probably represented the Trinity. Some of these marks may be mediaeval astrological symbols.
There are compass wheels on the staircase in Shakespeare’s Birthplace from the time when the building was used as a public house. Burn marks in the shape of flames can also be found on fireplaces as protection. It's possible that touching wood for good luck derives from fireplaces representing light triumphing over dark and such marks pre-date Christianity. Crosses are the most common. Porches also served as places of business for Guild members, and these marks may signify divine approval.
The VV (Virgo Virginum) and M symbols can also be found, which are thought to represent the Virgin Mary. Later they became just good luck symbols. On the tower archway there is a lightning strike mark as a protection mark. ‘Merels’ or Nine Men’s Morris game marks are also found on the walls, and so they could not be used for play, so the design is again probably to trap evil spirits. There are also some dot patterns near the porch. On the south-west corner of the tower arch there are six marks, as this was a very vulnerable place.
Post-reformation, the marks are more secular, with initials that may be in memoriam. H is common, and RB too. Maybe one H represents Hamnet? The chancel was walled off in the 16th century and rooms were rented out. The names William Rogers and Thomas Rogers, (people possibly known to Shakespeare) who lived in Shrieve’s House and Harvard House, can be seen on the chancel arch.
The making of graffiti continued in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, with names and initials as memorials, and they are often dated. There is an ‘MW 1731’ carved at the front door. Such dates and initials may commemorate visits or deaths. These and later marks were more skilful and clearer. House-shaped plaques are also quite common. Shakespeare’s Birthplace has many graffiti marks scratched onto the windows from visitors, some famous. The lead roof has outlines of shoes, marked 1804 and 1805. The practice of graffiti was tolerated less during the nineteenth century and it eventually gained its modern negative connotations, so there are not many modern marks. Pamela suspects that only about 30% of the graffiti remains, but the paintings and graffiti are very important historical resources. The wooden panelling has probably helped to preserve them, When the panelling was removed two years ago to look at the paintings, some graffiti, mostly from schoolboys, was also found. Also, ‘March 28, 1957’ was inscribed by workmen when the panels were fixed.
All graffiti tell a story and connects us to people not normally in historical records. The walls really do talk!
The mediaeval marks include masons’ marks and ritual protection marks/holy signs known as ‘apotropaic’ (from the Greek) graffiti as they were intended to turn away evil. ‘Prayers in stone’ are normally found at entry points, eg, porches, archways, doors and windows. Crosses are very common as are compass/daisy wheel designs (also known as hexfoils/hexafoils); there are also concentric circles. Other patterns with endless lines, including pentangles are also common, and Solomon’s Knots, and all were designed to trap evil spirits. There are also Consecration Crosses, larger and usually painted in red. Three circles intersecting in the middle (a Venn diagram) probably represented the Trinity. Some of these marks may be mediaeval astrological symbols.
There are compass wheels on the staircase in Shakespeare’s Birthplace from the time when the building was used as a public house. Burn marks in the shape of flames can also be found on fireplaces as protection. It's possible that touching wood for good luck derives from fireplaces representing light triumphing over dark and such marks pre-date Christianity. Crosses are the most common. Porches also served as places of business for Guild members, and these marks may signify divine approval.
The VV (Virgo Virginum) and M symbols can also be found, which are thought to represent the Virgin Mary. Later they became just good luck symbols. On the tower archway there is a lightning strike mark as a protection mark. ‘Merels’ or Nine Men’s Morris game marks are also found on the walls, and so they could not be used for play, so the design is again probably to trap evil spirits. There are also some dot patterns near the porch. On the south-west corner of the tower arch there are six marks, as this was a very vulnerable place.
Post-reformation, the marks are more secular, with initials that may be in memoriam. H is common, and RB too. Maybe one H represents Hamnet? The chancel was walled off in the 16th century and rooms were rented out. The names William Rogers and Thomas Rogers, (people possibly known to Shakespeare) who lived in Shrieve’s House and Harvard House, can be seen on the chancel arch.
The making of graffiti continued in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, with names and initials as memorials, and they are often dated. There is an ‘MW 1731’ carved at the front door. Such dates and initials may commemorate visits or deaths. These and later marks were more skilful and clearer. House-shaped plaques are also quite common. Shakespeare’s Birthplace has many graffiti marks scratched onto the windows from visitors, some famous. The lead roof has outlines of shoes, marked 1804 and 1805. The practice of graffiti was tolerated less during the nineteenth century and it eventually gained its modern negative connotations, so there are not many modern marks. Pamela suspects that only about 30% of the graffiti remains, but the paintings and graffiti are very important historical resources. The wooden panelling has probably helped to preserve them, When the panelling was removed two years ago to look at the paintings, some graffiti, mostly from schoolboys, was also found. Also, ‘March 28, 1957’ was inscribed by workmen when the panels were fixed.
All graffiti tell a story and connects us to people not normally in historical records. The walls really do talk!
Report by Helen Elliott.
