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The City as a Museum: Restoring the Identity and Intangible Heritage of Nottingham’s Multicultural Past through Augmented Reality and Location-Based Technology

image of The City as a Museum: Restoring the Identity and Intangible Heritage of Nottingham’s Multicultural Past through Augmented Reality and Location-Based Technology
  • By Andrea Moneta1
  • 1 Nottingham Trent University
  • Source: Rendered in Bits and Stone , pp 77-94
  • Publication Date: June 2026
  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1386/9781835952962_6
  • Language: English
  • Accessibility Summary:  EPUB 3 and pdf file included; compatible with devices and software which can read these formats. Adjustable font size, spacing, contrast, text justification, number of columns (ePUB only). Alternative text for images. Tagged with a logical reading order to assist screen readers. Navigation between in-text citations and reference list, and endnotes and endnote markers.

The study presented in this chapter explored new digital locative technologies, such as Augmented Reality and Geo-Blog, to uncover and restore Nottingham’s unique yet forgotten heritage, aiming to contribute to a future City Museum of Intangible Heritage. The study focused on the historical division between two populations—Anglo-Saxons and French-Normans—living in separate boroughs, divided by the Market Wall, a boundary that shaped the city’s social and architectural landscape. Data collected through architectural and archaeological mapping was used to recreate the Market Wall in 3D via an Augmented Reality app. This tool allowed citizens to virtually experience the Wall in its original position in the Old Market Square, offering an immersive way to explore the city’s hidden past. The research demonstrated how digital media can engage communities, enhance cultural awareness, and stimulate both local engagement and tourism, contributing to Nottingham’s social and cultural revitalization.

Keywords: Community Engagement ; Cultural Heritage ; Digital technologies ; Heritage Visualization ; Immersive Experiences ; Market Wall ; Multicultural Identity ; Virtual Archaeology

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The City as a Museum: Restoring the Identity and Intangible Heritage of Nottingham’s Multicultural Past through Augmented Reality and Location-Based Technology
Intellect , 77 (2026); https://doi.org/10.1386/9781835952962_6
/content/books/9781835952962.book-part-007
/content/books/9781835952962.book-part-007
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References

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References

  1. Anon. (1882), Records of the Borough of Nottingham, being a series of extracts from the archives of the Corporation of Nottingham 1155–1900, London: Quaritch.
  2. Anon. (n.d.), ‘The Historic Market Wall: A research of Nottingham Trent University – Global Heritage theme’, YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Txt5xjUnph8. Accessed 12 July 2022.
  3. Atkinson, Sara, Fuller, Sara and Painter, Joe (2016), Wellbeing and Place, London: Routledge.
  4. Badder, John and Peat, Thomas (1744), A plan of the town of Nottingham from an accurate survey by John Badder and Thomas Peat, with a view of the town, and Views of the principal buildings, engraved by Basire, https://tinyurl.com/3sa2dwse. Accessed 15 September 2025.
  5. BBC News (n.d.), ‘App recreates wall which divided medieval Nottingham’, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3gx37x033no. Accessed 12 July 2022.
  6. Beckett, John and Smith, Catherine (2000), ‘Urban renaissance and consumer revolution in Nottingham, 1688–1750’, Urban History, 7:1, pp. 31–50.
     [Google Scholar]
  7. Casey, Edward S. (2009), Getting Back into Place: Toward a Renewed Understanding of the Place-World, Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
  8. Deering, Charles (1751), Nottinghamia Vetus et Nova, or an historical account of the ancient and present state of the town of Nottingham, 1st ed., Nottingham: Printed by and for George Ayscough, & Thomas Willington.
  9. Doubleday, W. E. (1889), History of Nottingham Market Place, vol. 20, London: The Antiquary.
  10. Gilberto, Francesca. (2021), ‘Using digital technologies to innovate in heritage research, policy and practice’, Heritage and Our Sustainable Future, 7 October, pp. 1–3.
     [Google Scholar]
  11. Google (n.d.), ‘Google street views’, https://artsandculture.google.com/project/streetviews. Accessed 12 March 2023.
  12. Henstock, Adrian (1997), ‘The changing fabric of the town, 1550–1750’, in J. Beckett (ed.), A Centenary History of Nottingham, Manchester: Manchester University Press, pp. 111–13.
     [Google Scholar]
  13. Jackson, Anthony and Kydd, Jenny (2011), Performing Heritage, Manchester: Manchester University Press.
  14. Kinsley, Gavin (2006), An Archaeological Watching Brief at the Old Market Square, Nottingham, Nottingham: Trent and Peak Archaeology.
  15. Lomax, Scott C. (2013), Nottingham: The Buried Past of a Historic City Revealed, Nottingham: Pen and Sword.
  16. Mastoris, Steph (1981), ‘The boundary between the English and French boroughs of medieval Nottingham: A documentary survey’, in A. Cameron and A. Henstock (eds), Transactions of the Thoroton Society of Nottinghamshire, no. 85, Nottingham: Thoroton Society of Nottinghamshire, pp. 68–74.
     [Google Scholar]
  17. Mastoris, Steph and Groves, Sue (eds) (1997), ‘Sherwood Forest in 1609: A Crown survey by Richard Bankes’, Thoroton Society Record Series, vol. XL, Nottingham: Thoroton Society.
     [Google Scholar]
  18. Norberg-Schulz, Christian (1980), Towards a Phenomenology of Architecture, New York: Rizzoli.
  19. NottsTV (n.d.), ‘Market Square Notts TV’, https://vimeo.com/721534000. Accessed 13 July 2022.
  20. Overton, Henry (1714), A new map of Nottingham. Inset map in a new map of Nottinghamshire 1714, printed and sold by H. Overton, London, 1714, https://www.auctionzip.com/auction-lot/nottinghamshire.-overton-h.-a-new-map-of-notti_21945508B0. Accessed 18 March 2021.
  21. Pearson, Mike (2010), Site-Specific Performance, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
  22. Peel_X (n.d.), ‘Augmented reality and digital storytelling’, https://peelx.co.uk/. Accessed 22 January 2023.
  23. Relph, Edward (1976), Place and Placelessness, London: Pion.
  24. Robinson, Elizabeth (n.d.), ‘Stanford House: The owners’, http://www.thorotonsociety.org.uk/events/stanford-house-2013.htm. Accessed 27 June 2022.
  25. Roffe, David (2015), A Tale of Two Towns and Two Castles: Nottingham and Wallingford Compared, s.l.: British Archaeological Reports, British Series 621.
  26. Seamon, David (2014), ‘Place attachment and phenomenology’, in L. Manzo and P. Devine-Wright (eds), Place Attachment: Advances in Theory, Methods and Applications, London: Routledge, pp. 11–22.
     [Google Scholar]
  27. Speed, John (1610), ‘Detail of Nottingham City from a John Speed map’, https://blogs.nottingham.ac.uk/manuscripts/2013/07/04/meet-nottinghamshires-people/. Accessed 12 March 2021.
  28. Stevenson, William (n.d.), ‘Topographical, and other early notes about Nottingham’, http://www.nottshistory.org.uk/articles/tts/tts1918/nottingham1.htm. Accessed 2 July 2022.
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  30. UNESCO (2015), Policy Document for the Integration of a Sustainable Development Perspective into the Processes of the World Heritage Convention, https://whc.unesco.org/document/139146. Accessed 10 February 2023.
  31. UNESCO (n.d.), ‘World Heritage and sustainable development’, https://whc.unesco.org/en/sustainabledevelopment/. Accessed 8 February 2023.
  32. University of Edinburgh (n.d.), ‘Digital Cultural Heritage’, https://www.cdcs.ed.ac.uk/research-clusters/digital-cultural-heritage. Accessed 8 February 2023.
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     [Google Scholar]

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