Micklegate Priory Revealed

Client: Holy Trinity church, Micklegate
Dates: Phase 1 launched Oct 2010; Phase 2 - ongoing.

Overview

Heritage Technology is currently developing an on-site touchscreen installation entitled 'Micklegate Priory Revealed' for Holy Trinity church, Micklegate, York. The project explores the church's monastic past and runs alongside the popular 'Monks of Micklegate' exhibit, created by Dick Raines Design in 2007. The conceptual framework and textual content is being developed in partnership with Christianity and Culture, a cultural-heritage project based at the University of York.

The project aims to introduce visitors to the church's monastic past using 3D graphical reconstruction and is designed to be ongoing, with new resources added to the touchscreen every year to keep the exhibit fresh and encourage repeat visiting. The initial phase, completed and launched in late-September 2010, presented reconstructions of the priory precinct and its buildings - and also included the installation of the touchscreen equipment itself (comprising a custom-built kiosk and 'slave' screen for wider viewing).

Historical Setting

Holy Trinity, Micklegate, is one of the few churches that is now smaller now than it was in the past. Today it is a parish church, but it was once part of a Benedictine priory - a substantial monastic complex that covered several acres. The priory was built in the late 11th century with the substantial priory church at its heart. However, following the priory's dissolution in 1538 the church gradually fell into disrepair and the structure we see today owes much to the extensive restoration in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Project Goals

Phase 1: The initial phase of the project reconstructed the priory precinct and allowed visitors to explore the area via 360° panoramas. Each panorama had an associated number of 'hotspots', which could be accessed to provide further information on specific buildings or areas. Understanding that the church was once part of a much larger complex that covered a significant area is difficult to visualise in abstraction (both for visitors and locals alike), and the 'Phase 1' resource provides an engaging, interactive way of conceptualising this now-lost space.

Phase 2: The second project phase, due for completion in 2011, will look at the interiors of many of the precinct's structures - especially the priory church itself. Phase 1 achieved the aim of visualising the priory precinct and its structures, but a better understanding of how each building functioned can only be gained by looking inside. Phase 2 will also examine in more detail the life of the Micklegate monks, including the seasonal duties and celebrations in which they were involved.

Future Work

Phase 1, launched in September 2010, will be followed by a second phase, to be completed in 2011 (see above for more details). It is hoped further developments will follow on a yearly basis.