Holy Trinity Church 3: the misericordes by leics
You'll have to pay 1.50GBP to enter the chancel, where Shakespeare is buried.It's worth it just to see the wonderful Medieval misericordes in the chancel choir.
Misericordes are little ledges at the bottom of seats, provided for weary and/or old monks to rest their buttocks during long masses and services.
The Holy Trinity ones are the original Medieval misericordes (in many English churches they have disappeared because of rot, woodworm, 'renovations' etc). All 26 are entirely fascinating, and beautifully carved.
Look for the camel, and the woman beating her husband over the head with a saucepan (whilst hanging onto his beard), and the bat-like creatures, and the horned head.....many pagan symbols there, which is not at all unusual in an English Medieval church.
It's worth visiting this church just for the misericordes: they were the highlight of my afternoon in Stratford. There is a travelogue about them here:
http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/tt/a15fb/#TL
