diff --git a/core/modules/widgets/element.js b/core/modules/widgets/element.js
index b76e37b00..41ed4ebd1 100755
--- a/core/modules/widgets/element.js
+++ b/core/modules/widgets/element.js
@@ -29,45 +29,47 @@ Render this widget into the DOM
 ElementWidget.prototype.render = function(parent,nextSibling) {
 	this.parentDomNode = parent;
 	this.computeAttributes();
-	this.execute();
 	// Neuter blacklisted elements
-	var tag = this.parseTreeNode.tag;
-	if($tw.config.htmlUnsafeElements.indexOf(tag) !== -1) {
-		tag = "safe-" + tag;
+	this.tag = this.parseTreeNode.tag;
+	if($tw.config.htmlUnsafeElements.indexOf(this.tag) !== -1) {
+		this.tag = "safe-" + this.tag;
 	}
 	// Adjust headings by the current base level
-	var headingLevel = ["h1","h2","h3","h4","h5","h6"].indexOf(tag);
+	var headingLevel = ["h1","h2","h3","h4","h5","h6"].indexOf(this.tag);
 	if(headingLevel !== -1) {
 		var baseLevel = parseInt(this.getVariable("tv-adjust-heading-level","0"),10) || 0;
 		headingLevel = Math.min(Math.max(headingLevel + 1 + baseLevel,1),6);
-		tag = "h" + headingLevel;
+		this.tag = "h" + headingLevel;
 	}
-	// Create the DOM node
-	var domNode = this.document.createElementNS(this.namespace,tag);
-	this.assignAttributes(domNode,{excludeEventAttributes: true});
-	parent.insertBefore(domNode,nextSibling);
-	this.renderChildren(domNode,null);
-	this.domNodes.push(domNode);
-};
-
-/*
-Compute the internal state of the widget
-*/
-ElementWidget.prototype.execute = function() {
 	// Select the namespace for the tag
 	var tagNamespaces = {
 			svg: "http://www.w3.org/2000/svg",
 			math: "http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML",
 			body: "http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"
 		};
-	this.namespace = tagNamespaces[this.parseTreeNode.tag];
+	this.namespace = tagNamespaces[this.tag];
 	if(this.namespace) {
 		this.setVariable("namespace",this.namespace);
 	} else {
 		this.namespace = this.getVariable("namespace",{defaultValue: "http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"});
 	}
+	// Invoke the th-rendering-element hook
+	var parseTreeNodes = $tw.hooks.invokeHook("th-rendering-element",null,this);
+	this.isReplaced = !!parseTreeNodes;
+	if(parseTreeNodes) {
+		// Use the parse tree nodes provided by the hook
+		this.makeChildWidgets(parseTreeNodes);
+		this.renderChildren(this.parentDomNode,null);
+		return;
+	}
 	// Make the child widgets
 	this.makeChildWidgets();
+	// Create the DOM node and render children
+	var domNode = this.document.createElementNS(this.namespace,this.tag);
+	this.assignAttributes(domNode,{excludeEventAttributes: true});
+	parent.insertBefore(domNode,nextSibling);
+	this.renderChildren(domNode,null);
+	this.domNodes.push(domNode);
 };
 
 /*
@@ -77,8 +79,13 @@ ElementWidget.prototype.refresh = function(changedTiddlers) {
 	var changedAttributes = this.computeAttributes(),
 		hasChangedAttributes = $tw.utils.count(changedAttributes) > 0;
 	if(hasChangedAttributes) {
-		// Update our attributes
-		this.assignAttributes(this.domNodes[0],{excludeEventAttributes: true});
+		if(!this.isReplaced) {
+			// Update our attributes
+			this.assignAttributes(this.domNodes[0],{excludeEventAttributes: true});			
+		} else {
+			// If we were replaced then completely refresh ourselves
+			return this.refreshSelf();
+		}
 	}
 	return this.refreshChildren(changedTiddlers) || hasChangedAttributes;
 };
diff --git a/editions/dev/tiddlers/new/Hook__th-rendering-element.tid b/editions/dev/tiddlers/new/Hook__th-rendering-element.tid
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3aba8d7be
--- /dev/null
+++ b/editions/dev/tiddlers/new/Hook__th-rendering-element.tid
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+created: 20200630121235997
+modified: 20200630121235997
+tags: HookMechanism
+title: Hook: th-rendering-element
+
+This hook provides a notification that a DOM element is about to be rendered by the "element" widget. The hook can optionally provide an alternate parse tree that will be rendered in place of the intended element.
+
+Note the element widget only renders those HTML elements that were parsed as plain HTML elements within wikitext (i.e. using the `<tagname>` syntax). This means that this hook is not invoked for elements created by other widgets.
+
+Hook function parameters:
+
+* ''newParseTreeNodes'': optional parse tree nodes provided by a previously called hook
+* ''widget'': instance of the element widget invoking the hook
+
+Return value:
+
+* ''newParseTreeNodes'': optionally new parse tree nodes to replace the intended element, or a falsey value to leave the element untouched
+
+Here is an example of a handler for this hook:
+
+```js
+$tw.hooks.addHook("th-rendering-element",function(parseTreeNodes,widget) {
+	// Return the previous mapping if there is one
+	if(parseTreeNodes) {
+		return parseTreeNodes;
+	}
+	// Detect the elements we're interested in
+	if(someCondition()) {
+		// Replace them with a parse tree
+		return generateParseTreeNodes();
+	}
+	// Otherwise do nothing
+	return null;
+});
+```