A 700 year snapshot of Alnwick Castle history

Alnwick Castle in Northumberland has created an exhibition to celebrate the 700 year anniversary of the Percy family purchasing Alnwick Castle and Barony. Henry Lord Percy bought the properties from Anthony Bek, the Bishop of Durham, on 19 November 1309.

A major part of the exhibition comprises a series of multimedia productions, comprising animations, sound effects videos, and voice-overs telling the story of the Percy family over the past 700 years, which were all produced by Indigo Multimedia, a digital creative agency based in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

The main aim of the exhibition is to give Alnwick Castle visitors a flavour of the times showing developments at the castle and estate through a particular character for each century. Each part of the exhibition is located at different places around the castle site, both indoor and out.  Indigo Multimedia produced an animated story about the infamous Harry Hotspur; recorded voice-overs of letters written by the first duchess Elizabeth Percy; created sound effects of a siege; and directed and filmed a rare interview with the current duke.

Indigo Multimedia worked with Blue, a design company specialising in exhibition design for museums, heritage attractions and visitor centres. Blue coordinated the whole exhibition with staff at Alnwick Castle.

Will Daykin, managing director at Blue, said: “I was delighted to work with Indigo Multimedia again on such an interesting and challenging project. We had worked together previously on a similar project for the Bowes Museum and I was really impressed with their constant creative outlook and professional attitude.”

John Adams, film director at Indigo Multimedia, was in charge of directing and producing the film footage. He explained: “Documenting a detailed history of Castle and family for 700 years would have been a prohibitively lengthy task, so it was agreed that each of the seven centuries would be represented by one Percy family member of note.

“We made an animated video that documented the life and times of Harry Hotspur, who was a colourful character. The animation covers his exciting and daring life, which includes him being taken prisoner after the midnight battle of Otterburn, the fact that his status was immortalised by Shakespeare in his play Henry IV Part One, and finally his death when he was beheaded by the Royalist army at the Battle of Shrewsbury.

“We also created sound effects replicating that of a siege, which is played in the great defensive barbican gateway for visitors to experience, and recorded voice-overs of letters written by the first duchess Elizabeth Percy during the mid 18^th century when the castle and grounds were being extensively restored and developed as a palace and pleasure grounds.

John Adams and his crew also had the opportunity to interview and film the current duke. John said: “It was a very rare opportunity and we feel privileged to have been able to interview and film the Duke of Northumberland while he gave an insight into his life at Alnwick Castle and explained some of his responsibilities.”

Clare Baxter, Collections Manager at Alnwick Castle said "Indigo Multimedia have worked hard in helping us to bring the last 700 years of Alnwick history to life. The Percy family have a rich and colourful history and we were keen to make sure that was conveyed in an accessible and fun way to ensure our visitors an enjoyable and interesting experience. We are delighted with the range of animation, films and voice-overs and are already receiving fantastic feedback from visitors.”

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