York Minster is one of the most visited cathedrals in England, attracting hundreds of thousands of people each year. Whilst there are many ways in place for visitors to discover the spectacular architetural and archaeological history of the site from Roman times onwards, the Dean and Chapter wanted to explore ways of explaining more about the spiritual life of the Minster past and present. This was an area that many guides found difficult to include in an ordinary tour as they had no way of knowing what background knowledge (if any) people had before explaining concepts such as the liturgical cycle and pilgrimage as inner journey.
With the support of the Friends of York Minster, Christianity and Culture were asked to produce a touch-screen installation which would cover the two themes of Pilgrimage and The Christian Year and give visitors the opportunity to learn more at their own pace. This was installed in the crypt in 2010 and is now the focus for a new interpretation of St. William's tomb. The installation is supported by a large slave screen above the touchscreen kiosk. This allows more people to see what was on screen and facilitates its use by school groups. This is a significant feature for the Minster as their Centre for School Visits welcomes thousands of KS 2and 3 school children each year and part of their visit includes exploration of the crypt around the tomb of St. William.
The installation offers the two themes on an introductory screen and simple click-throughs and internal links allow the visitor to explore different aspects of the themes. The Christian Year theme relates the church's liturgical calendar to key festivals in other faiths and the calendar year, whilst Pilgrimage explores concepts of faith journeys past and present.
The information is layered, so for those who wish to know more there are further levels of detail, but the amount of content in each has been carefully matched to the desirable dwell-time in order to avoid a bottle-neck at this point in the underground exhibition. Feedback from visitors has been very positive and further material in the form of short video clips of major services and events, such as the Advent procession, will be added in the near future.