The National Trust faces the challenge of connecting with visitors and potential visitors if it is to avoid the preconception of its places as dry or rather formal.
One of the ways of achieving these aims is to re-present a room within a property in order to create a more immersive and absorbing physical environment. In these selected rooms, visitors are invited to imagine themselves in a particular historic time and place. The curators and conservators carefully research into an actual story associated with a property and based on the detailed research the room is carefully arranged and filled with objects that have a high degree of historical accuracy. Taking this approach can significantly enhance the visitor experience and can encourage longer and more repeat visiting to a property.
MAX was delighted to be involved in a recent project at Polesdon Lacey to assist in a small part to re-create a historic event when King Edward VII came to Polesden Lacey to enjoy a six-course dinner party with his long-time mistress Alice Keppel.
The Trust has gone to great lengths to get everything just right, in March they took delivery of six meters of snowy white damask linen table cloth with an original Edwardian design. Ivan Day an external food consultant has also the last course or entremet served at the dinner party over 100 years ago. MAX was tasked with creation of a very accurate facsimile of the delicately and intricately designed menu.
One of MAX’s technicians visited the property and photographed the menu on a high resolution digital camera. The menu was the printed onto Fine Art Paper that matched the original and then cut out and lightly embossed to create an excellent facsimile of the original menu.
The Trust has also incorporated the digital version of the menu into an IPad app that will give the visitor access to additional content such as historical information on the people present at the dinner party and also detailed information about the food served.
Make sure you visit the beautiful house in June to see the amazing re-creation of the dinner party setting in all its atmospheric glory.
For additional information contact
National Trust Property Information
National Trust, Polesden Lacey House, Dorking, Surrey RH5 6BD
Victoria Nutt
House and Collections Manager - Polesden Lacey
01372 455071 (ddi) | 01372 452048 (main tel) | 01372 452023 (main fax)
