The invisible town as a visitor experience

The invisible town as a visitor experience

Will Bowden, Associate Professor of Roman Archaeology, School of Humanities

The Roman town at Caistor St. Edmund in Norfolk was abandoned around 1200 years ago. What was a planned town with streets, baths, temples and a population of thousands now lies beneath open fields grazed by sheep.

Caistor is now the focus of a University of Nottingham research project aimed at answering some key questions relating to the town and its history. However, conveying the idea of the town to the visiting public and allowing them to experience something of what the town was like is extremely difficult when the reality is a flat and fairly uninteresting field. With Gary Priestnall from the School of Geography I am exploring ways of using mobile technologies to provide visitors with informative and enjoyable ways to experience the site that will also allow them to question the interpretations they are given.