WILTON’S MUSIC HALL, THE WORLD’S OLDEST SURVIVING GRAND MUSIC HALL, TO BE ADDED TO GOOGLE’S DIGITAL ARCHIVES
- The first music hall and one of only seven London theatres to get an online Google archive
- Users around the world can now take a virtual tour of the iconic venue using Google Expeditions
Today Wilton’s Music Hall is proud to launch their digital archive in partnership with Google Arts and Culture, giving unprecedented access to the legendary Grand Music Hall’s heritage through its collections and via a new virtual reality tour.
Years of renovation, building repair and conservation at the multi-arts venue in the East End have unearthed the full extent of Wilton’s fascinating history both as a building and a cornerstone of the Music Hall genre. Now, partnering with Google Arts and Culture, Wilton’s Music Hall is proud to be able to share these remarkable resources for the very first time. The new digital archive allows online visitors to explore first-hand documents that trace the history of Wilton’s – from Victorian Music Hall, to Methodist Mission, through years of dereliction and campaigning to its hard-won rebirth as the much-loved venue it is today.
Items can be seen in high definition, allowing visitors to identify hidden details in photographs and drawings, whilst preserving the fragile originals. The prize possession, a sketch drawn in the hall in 1871, can now be explored in minute detail – the faces of the audience, the fashions of the times, and numerous other insights yet to be discovered.
Using Google Expeditions, another unique feature of Google’s digital archive, online visitors can also take a virtual reality tour of Wilton’s with access to the building via an app designed for students and teachers. With online questions and remote access to the venue, this takes Wilton’s and its history into classrooms around the world.
Other fascinating additions to the online archive include brand new Street View images, giving online visitors the chance to visit hidden parts of Wilton’s Music Hall not accessible to the public. An online exhibition documents 50 years of campaigning, charting the deteriorating condition of the building before the epic campaign that brought it back from the brink, saving Wilton’s for future generations.
Access to the online archive can be found here