I remember when I first came to Clifford's Tower. You're just hit by this huge structure.
Clifford's Tower is the skyscraper of its day. Even today it still has that impact.
Clifford's Tower is definitely one of the most important buildings in York and I would argue
one of the most important buildings anywhere in England. The tower is the biggest survival
of the castle of York, that throughout the Middle Ages and up to the 17th century was the centre of
government in York. And really, often the place where the whole of the north of England was ruled from.
This is a place every part of which breathes with human stories and it was with those human stories
that we've been most interested in dealing in our interpretation now.
This was a great project for bringing together a whole load of different specialist teams
and I think the experience for visitors will be all the better for it.
When the visitor enters the tower, they will really receive a completely new experience.
We're going to combine written narrative with sound and stories told by audio, which will be embedded into some of
the elements we create. We start at the base of the tower with a couple of key elements
so we have there a tactile map which is cast bronze and we also have wonderful new, very large
cast bronze timeline which is being inset into new paving and this will tell the history of the tower.
So when you enter the tower, there'll be a series of cast concrete lecterms and that
will really introduce the visitor to the interpretation so they know what to expect.
The purpose of the soundscapes is to be able to bring the past to life for any visitors
who come into the building. You would walk into Clifford's Tower and as you walk through the
various zones of the interpretation you actually hear the historical scenes that could easily have
happened at those points. Clifford's Tower had a really long and interesting history because it
was built by human beings and human beings have had different uses for it at different times.
And so through the soundscape, what I wanted to do is try and reflect the relationship of the human
beings to the building itself. What did they do inside the building and what did that sound like?
[Interpretation dialogue]
Quite a few of the scenes are in languages that we just don't speak anymore either completely
different languages like Old French or earlier versions of English. One of the most interesting
scenes I think for that is the kitchen scene, which is a mix of Middle English and French,
and the language you spoke depended on your position in society so you hear that through the kitchen scene.
[Interpretation dialogue]
The technical installation at Clifford's Tower has been really deeply thought about. It was important
to create one unified soundscape that actually encompasses a number of different areas that are
different time zones but it all acts as one thing.
We have selected five characters through the ages that we've created through historical research, through working really closely
with the English Heritage team, and these people represent a really dramatic moment in the history of Clifford's Tower.
What we've also tried to do is, so the audience has a real connection with those people,
is to cast people who are based locally. We were looking for people that really connect with York,
that really care about its history. So the character of Edith, she's a really fiery character
played by a brilliant, brilliant woman called Julie Marshall who's actually a Maths teacher from a local secondary school.
VO: 'Then the conqueror returned and took back the city and he's only gone and built a castle right where our own was! I'm fed up of being here. Some of the things I have
seen these past three years.'
Then we're going to meet Elena, who is our youngest performer. She's just nine years old.
Elena is then telling us the story of what happened and she's relating back... her sort of stepfather and who was involved with the tower as a soldier.
We hoped that we'd be able to get the fabric of the building almost to reveal its stories.
So what we've come up with is this beautiful bench idea, so people can sit, they can lean into the bench
and they can listen to the story.
The benches are a really important part of the whole soundscape experience.
They provide the link between the tower and the city of York itself. These are the residents of York at different periods of history,
talking about events that happened to them.
The design for access is something that we really wanted to integrate from the outset.
So the elements that will help people who have access issues will really help to enliven and enrich the experience for everyone.
So we have tactile elements within the panels and these will tell you if there's an audio or if there's a QR code,
and that will deliver either translated text or large-scale text or further stories on to your phone.
We hope that our project will improve every part of the experience at Clifford's Tower.
For the first time since the 17th century, it's now possible to get to some of the upper areas of the tower.
This is a building of huge life, of huge history
that's had an incredible career and is here right here in York as part of its complete history.