The Medieval Coventry charity is delighted to announce that its self-guided tour, ‘Coventry’s Medieval Treasures’, has won the Alan Ball Award 2022 for Outstanding Local History E-Publication.
The tour presents Coventry’s medieval heritage in a new, creative way using digital technology. It showcases artworks that evocatively capture Coventry’s medieval architecture, artefacts from archaeological excavations, and archives selected from a rich repository of medieval records.
By harnessing this vital material culture – much of which is ordinarily hidden from view – the tour makes it available to the public, weaving it into the story of medieval Coventry.
The tour reveals
- the people and events that shaped medieval Coventry and led it to become the fourth most important city in England by 1500
- the extant medieval buildings that exist within the urban landscape
- medieval buildings, streetscapes and landscapes long since lost but evocatively captured in paintings, prints and drawings created by artists over the past 200 years
- artefacts, both functional and objects of beauty and fine craftsmanship, discovered during archaeological excavations
- the city’s musical heritage and internationally renowned Mystery Plays
- archives that unearth the social, working, religious and administrative life of the city’s inhabitants.
Participants enjoy an immersive multi-media experience while exploring the city on foot, or they can engage with it online from the comfort of their own home using a smartphone, PC or laptop. This makes it ideal for an international audience and those unable to visit Coventry, and for those who are housebound, infirm or who experience limited mobility.
It can be downloaded by accessing a dedicated website and is best viewed on a smartphone.
The tour was created and produced primarily using local people and companies and a small team were involved at the pilot testing stage. Many other organisations and people from beyond Coventry also gave their time and resources. Many kindly completed the work either on a pro bono basis or at greatly reduced costs.
The project was financed through funding from charitable trusts and private donations.
The Award will be presented at a special ceremony in mid-August. Terry Bracher, Chair of the Trust, said:
“The judges thought it was an outstanding e-publication, which stood out within a strong field. We had a large number of nominations overall this year and you should be congratulated for the tremendous work that went into creating this digital publication.”
Medieval Coventry is aiming to adapt the tour for those with disabilities or limited mobility and to produce a family-friendly version.
It also aspires to create further tours that would cover other areas of the city, pending successful funding.
If you would like more information, please contact Amanda Kay: [email protected]