Time Travellers of Cranborne Chase is an augmented reality app to help you delve into the secrets of the past.
Cranborne Chase is bursting with fascinating history. We have developed a free phone app that helps you explore the history and stories from this area.
The Time Travellers app has will help you find out more about the local area and explore this amazing landscape. With the help of real-life actors and historians the app allows you to meet characters from the past such as Pitt Rivers and Thomas Hardy.
Meet Neolithic farmers, a Bronze age horse warrior and Roman soldiers on Martin Down National Nature Reserve, experience Iron Age life at Winklebury Hillfort, and immerse yourself in Iron Age and Romano-British village life at Woodcutts.
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Download the Time Travellers app
The Time Travellers of Cranborne Chase AR app features an interactive map of Cranborne Chase, with historical sites pinpointed on the landscape.
Load the app onto your phone and visit the sites in the real world. Hold up your phone when you reach the real-world location to experience an augmented reality experience.
Download the free Time Travellers of Cranborne Chase AR app to your phone and start exploring!Scan the QR code or click below to download for Android or Apple devices
Archie and Ollie, the archaeologist moles, are your guides inside the app and teach you how to start exploring!
The Time Travellers of Cranborne Chase AR app is integrated with Google Maps so you’ll be able to find the locations described in the app.
Select the different highlighted locations for directions.
Locations feature information in text and augmented reality video and animation.
If you have access to a Wi-Fi network we recommend you go to ‘Settings’ and ‘Download all content’ before you start exploring.
Suggested parking places and exploration ideas
The Time Travellers of Cranborne Chase AR app features suggested parking locations for users who want to explore the landscape.
The green information markers open up to give context and history to the historic locations of Cranborne Chase.
Collect medallions as you explore!
Collect digital medallions as you go. In some locations, scan the medal with your smartphone to unlock the amazing AR experience.
Follow suggested walking routes to AR locations
Follow the walking routes and explore the landscape of Cranborne Chase. The Time Traveller App pinpoints locations rich in history for you to explore.
Meet characters from Cranborne Chase’s Past
Meet people from Cranborne Chase’s past such as Claudia Lucilla, a Roman noblewoman in Wimborne. Infamous 18th-century smuggler Issac Gulliver will greet you as you enter the graveyard St Mary’s Church in Sixpenny Handley, while in Shaftesbury Thomas Hardy enthusiastically explains how the town influenced his novels.
General Pitt Rivers, considered by many to be the father of modern archaeology, introduces you to his estate and to his archaeological work at Salisbury Museum and Larmer Tree Gardens, and John Bastard, architect and builder, explains Blandford Forum’s dramatic history and how it rose again from the flames.
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Time Travellers app locations
Shaftesbury
Explore the historic town of Shaftesbury, with a history dating back to the times of King Alfred the Great.
You’ll explore the site of Shaftesbury Abbey, which was founded in 888 by King Alfred, and Gold Hill, a famous steep cobbled street used in the 1970s as the setting for Ridley Scott’s television advert for Hovis bread.
Blandford Forum
Blandford Forum is a market town in Dorset situated by the River Stour. It is notable for its Georgian architecture and has been a recorded fording point of the River Stour since Anglo-Saxon time.
You’ll explore the town centre and learn about Blandford Brewery, the River Stour, Blandford Town Museum, the Blandford Corn Exchange and the Church of St Peter & St Paul.
Larmer Tree Gardens
The Larmer Tree Gardens are located in south Wiltshire and were created by Augustus Pitt Rivers in 1880 as the first private gardens opened for public enjoyment in the UK and were free to enter.
You’ll explore the gardens and learn about the history behind them.
Woodcutts Roman Farm
Between the courses of the Rushmore Farm Golf Club are the remains of a Roman rural farmstead.
You’ll see an augmented reality reconstruction of the settlement on the landscape.
The circular route is approximately a one-hour round trip.
Sixpenny Handley
Sixpenny Handley is a village in Dorset located in Cranborne Chase and was first recorded in 932 as Seaxpenn, meaning ‘hill of the Saxons’.
You’ll visit St Mary’s Church and, in the graveyard, meet Isaac Gulliver, the notorious ‘King of the Dorset Smugglers’! Learn about the history of smuggling in Dorset.
Martin Down Nature Reserve
Martin Down is a 908-acre Site of Special Scientific Interest and a National Nature Reserve. The site is rich in prehistoric earthworks including Bokerley Dyke and the Dorset Curcus. Martin Down is a chalk grassland with a rich ecosystem of flora and fauna, and an outstanding assemblage of butterflies and wildflowers.
You’ll explore Bokerley Dyke, and learn about the Ghost Warrior that has been reported to haunt the site since 1924.
Salisbury
Salisbury is a city in Wiltshire which is famous for its stunning cathedral and spire, rich history, and medieval buildings and layout.
You’ll learn about the Magna Carta and the Salisbury Cathedral Clock which is said to be the oldest mechanical clock in the world. You’ll also visit Salisbury Museum and meet Pitt Rivers, who is known as the father of modern archaeology.
Wimborne Minster
Wimborne is a market town in Dorset and is notable for having one of the foremost collections of 15th, 16th and 17th-century buildings in Dorset.
You’ll visit the Museum of East Dorset which is packed with archaeological finds that tell the story of Wimborne’s ancient past. You’ll meet a Roman lady, Claudia Lucilla, who was wife of the Roman administrator of the roads.
Colour us in!
Download this fun colouring-in sheet for kids, featuring Archie, Olivia and some of the characters from the app.