Sandringham House is the private home of Her Majesty the Queen, as it has been to four generations of monarchs since 1862. The rooms that are open to the public are the actual rooms used by The Queen and members of her family at Christmas and at other periods throughout the year. As well as viewing the house, visitors can see the museum in the grounds and enjoy the formal gardens and 243 hectares of country park.
Sandringham Estate is an operational agricultural powerhouse, growing virtually all organic wheat, barley and even blackcurrants for supply to a well-known juice drink brand. These under publicised activities generate vital funds, which enable the estate to be self-sufficient and reduce the need for public funding.
Because Sandringham is not open to the public all year round, it experiences very busy periods, particularly in August. It can be difficult to enjoy the rooms or to speak to one of the very knowledgeable room guides because of the crowds and an urgent solution was sought. As well as the story of the house it was very important to the team at Sandringham to explain that the house and the estate are self-financing, and that no public money is used to support it.
ATS worked closely with the Sandringham team to develop a multimedia tour that would support the room guides whilst giving greater access to the stories that the house has to tell. Its content uses a full range of multimedia to show visitors how this family home has been passed down through royal generations and is still enjoyed by the family today. It mixes history with how the royal family use the house now and gives visitors access to people who work behind the scenes as well as close ups of some of the objects on display in the house.
The tour has been designed to move people through the rooms at a steady pace whilst giving them greater access to information than before. ATS also produced a short introductory film to explain how the estate works and the history of the house so that visitors are better informed before they tour the rooms.
Garry Marsden, Visitor Services Manager at Sandringham, said, “I am excited to be working with ATS Heritage once again. I know from experience that the introduction of the new Multimedia Tour will really add value to our visitor experience as well as increased dwell time. This coupled with the first class back up that ATS offer is a winning combination I am delighted to have on board.”
ATS has an exemplary record of delivering world-class audio and multimedia guides that transform visitor experiences. The company provides a full end-to-end service of planning and scriptwriting, concept through to design, production, hardware provision and support.
