VIRTUAL reality is allowing visitors to visit Hall’s Croft from anywhere around the world while the Shakespeare property undergoes vital restoration.
Hall’s Croft: A Spatial Archive has been created by Brighton University’s Dr Ailsa Grant Ferguson in collaboration with the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust and offers a unique, immersive way to explore the home of Susanna, eldest daughter of Anne and William Shakespeare.
Accessible world-wide and free to use, the groundbreaking online archive has been built using advanced 3D photography and augmented reality, and offers a virtual reconstruction of three rooms at Hall’s Croft.
It also aims to shows that Susanna was much more than a famous writer’s daughter. Healer, household manager, reader, businesswoman and mother, she sheds light on the rich, multi-faceted lives of 17th century women.
Users can navigate curated content and explore the projects’ key themes – home, medicine, garden and Susanna – by interacting with objects on the screen connected to the Hall family’s history.
Hall’s Croft is currently only accessible to learning groups as the upper floors are undergoing a major restoration and conservation project.
Dr Grant Ferguson, principal lecturer in literature at Brighton University, said:“This virtual space has granted my wish to lift the lid on the life and space of early modern women, to challenge our assumptions about Susanna beyond her restriction to daughter and wife and show the richness of her world.
“We want to invite everyone to see behind the curtain of curated displays and gain confidence to explore archives and collections that exist for all to access. Whether you want to explore the space for peace and calm or to find ways into advanced research, just start exploring and see what you find.”
Paul Taylor, SBT’s head of museum and curatorial services, added: “It is wonderful to finish the first year of our Women Who Made Shakespeare project with the launch of this immersive and engaging project on Susanna. She has always been an enigmatic character who has intrigued researchers for centuries and so to have the opportunity to explore her life in Hall’s Croft and share her legacy in such an accessible way with audiences across the world is something to celebrate.”
Hall’s Croft: A Spatial Archive is available at www.shakespeare.org.uk/explore-shakespeare/museum-from-home/the-susanna-hall-halls-croft-project/
