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Virtual reality lets visitors to Cartmel Priory relive the Dissolution of the Monasteries

25 May 2018

New experience in Lake District priory to tell the story of those executed for rebellion

holdens

A young visitor explores the history of Cartmel Priory through a virtual-reality headset

A young visitor explores the history of Cartmel Priory through a virtual-reality headset

A PERMANENT virtual-reality “experience” has been installed in Cartmel Priory, in the Lake District, to tell the story of those who were executed for rebellion during the Dissolution of the Monasteries.

“The Young Martyr” experience transports visitors back almost 500 years to the failed attempt to resist the King’s forces in 1537. When the fighting was done, several of the priory’s canons and ten laymen of the district were tried for treason in Lancaster, found guilty, and hanged, drawn, and quartered (Around the Dioceses, 4 November 2008).

The Revd Nick Devenish, Team Vicar in the Cartmel Peninsula Team Ministry, said: “Virtual reality al­lows us to tell the story of those brave monks in an incredibly engaging and exciting way.”

He told The Westmorland Gazette: “If you think about it, when Cartmel Priory came out of the ground it was state-of-the art technology; there was nothing like it. I see the priory doing what it’s always done, it’s always led the way. The priory is a very special place: it’s able to embrace newness, but it can also hold to its tradition, and we need to safeguard it.”

The seven-minute immersive experience was created by the Manchester marketing agency Holdens. The experience must be booked in advance using the priory website. All funds raised will go towards the maintenance of the priory.

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