Headstone Manor is part of Harrow Museum. Built around 1310, it is the earliest surviving timber framed building in Middlesex. It is surrounded by the only surviving filled moat in the county, dating from the14th century. It was a residence of the Archbishops of Canterbury until 1546 when it was surrendered to Henry VIII and sold to one of his court favourites, remaining in private ownership for nearly four centuries.
With dramatic extensions and changes made over the years Headstone Manor has notable features that include the panelling of the great hall dating from 1631 and the brick façade added in the 1770s. An outstanding complex of associated buildings is recognised through its designation as a Scheduled Ancient Monument.
Funding has been secured to undertake crucial restoration and conservation work on the various buildings to, develop a new-build Welcome Building and to develop an exhibition with the aim of making Headstone Manor a must-see local attraction and sustainable community hub.
The exhibition will take visitors on a chronological journey through the Borough of Harrows history from pre-history through to today. It will use a combination of graphic panels, touchscreen, bespoke cases for the museum collection, audio of voices of people from the history of the Manor and trails of interesting room features. There will also be a film to be shown in the Small Barn.
Wide Sky Design will be part of a team including Imagemakers, Chocolate Films and Hadley Interiors.
We are looking forward to being involved in the delivery of software for touchscreens, based on our content management system which will also support a tablet tour developed on a Bring Your Own Device basis. The CMS will be updatable via wifi and USB stick.
The touchscreens will include oral histories of the site, videos and slideshows, a timeline, map and a selection of games.
We will specify and supply hardware to support audiovisual exhibits that will integrate fully with purpose-designed items and be IP rated ensuring it suitably robust to cope with high humidity levels and potential water ingress in some of the buildings.
