Guild of the Holy Cross (Stratford-upon-Avon)

Throughout the period of its existence, the guild was a central institution of Stratford's civic and cultural life, which catered for the town's spiritual needs and fulfilled a range of political and social functions.

By the early 15th century the guild had come to own many properties in the town, and it used the rental income from these to provide a number of welfare facilities for its members: In around 1420, it constructed a Guildhall and adjoining Almshouses on Church Street.

These buildings became the centre of Stratford's civic life, providing many social and political functions, including housing a grammar school.

[1][3] The guild reached the peak of its influence in the late 15th century, when it had become the town's semi-official governing body, and probably included all of the more important townsmen.

[3][2] In the early 16th century, membership of the Stratford guild declined as a wave of religious change and uncertainty swept across the country during the Tudor period.