The Becket Connection: employing the Becket story and 2020 anniversary as catalysts to transform heritage, tourism, education and community engagement

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The Becket Connection offers a unique opportunity to model creative collaboration and technological innovation in bringing history and heritage to life for local, national and international audiences, through the story of one of the most famous and controversial figures of the Middle Ages. CONTEXT2020 will mark 900 years since the birth of Thomas Becket, 850 years since his murder in Canterbury Cathedral, and 800 years since the 'translation' of his relics. This triple anniversary coincides with 'The Canterbury Journey', a £24.7 million conservation, education and interpretation project at the Cathedral (completion 2021) which will ensure a long-term legacy for resources created. Moreover, a newly-founded Heritage Forum convened by the City Council is now seeking to reinvigorate the city's World Heritage site, and broaden and enhance Canterbury's tourism offer by connecting the much-visited Cathedral more closely to the city's many other outstanding historic sites. This Follow-on initiative is driven by:- new understanding of Becket's medieval cult and present-day visitor needs generated by the 2014-17 AHRC 'Pilgrimage and England's Cathedrals' (PEC) project- the digital visualisation expertise of the Centre for the Study of Christianity & Culture (Univ. of York)- collaboration with the British Museum, Canterbury Archaeological Trust, Canterbury Museums & Galleries, Museum of London- educational needs- newly emerging heritage/tourism goals. Collaboration with PEC partners and wide-ranging consultation with the City Council, business and community groups, heritage, tourism and cultural bodies in Canterbury, have revealed significant new heritage-tourism, educational and community engagement possibilities. The PEC project created detailed digital reconstructions of four key sites inside the cathedral (including Becket's shrine) which are already changing perceptions of pilgrim experience at Canterbury. The Follow-on proposal will create a new digital model of the whole Cathedral set in the medieval City of Canterbury, thus placing the interior models in a broader geocultural context, including medieval pilgrim routes and key buildings. OUTCOMES This innovative, interactive Cathedral/City model (amplified by other PEC research data) will have seven main outcomes for key heritage, educational, cultural, business and local community partners:CONNECTING CATHEDRAL AND CITY - Use in the new permanent Cathedral exhibition, revealing the multi-layered relationship between the Cathedral, Becket's shrine, and the city which grew in response to his cult and pilgrim needs. - Providing a visual foundation for presenting a more integrated tourism offer for Canterbury, enhancing connections between the Cathedral, the City, and the rich multiplicity of heritage sites. CONNECTING BECKET WITH HIS TIMEA new online/Flash Drive education resource (particularly for History, Literature and RE curricula)SHAPING BECKET 2020 MUSEUM EXHIBITIONS/ACTIVITIESCollaboration with the British Museum (providing digital assets for a major exhibition), Canterbury Museums and Museum of LondonEXPLORING THE BECKET STORY TODAY THROUGH WORD AND IMAGESupporting drama, poetry, art and craft workshops, with the Marlowe Theatre and the Canterbury Journey, to stimulate creative contemporary responses to the Becket story from all age-groups and backgroundsCONNECTING BECKET AND PILGRIMAGE TODAYShaping visitor trails and services for 2020, when the Cathedral also hosts the international Lambeth ConferenceENHANCING CANTERBURY-LONDON TOURISM LINKSConnecting Becket's cult to his influence on London and its landscape for the Becket 2020 websiteUSING HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES TO INFORM CURRENT MANAGEMENTConference for managers of sacred sites, statutory advisors (including Historic England), historians, theologians, social scientists, reviewing current moves to restore shrines and relics to Anglican cathedrals