Explore Castleford’s Roman heritage with new digital experience

Wakefield Council is launching a new project which will allow people to explore Castleford’s Roman heritage from their own home.

Working with local digital specialists One to One Development Trust alongside Castleford Civic Society and Castleford Heritage Trust, the project will create an ambitious new creative experience that interprets Castleford’s history using cutting edge gaming technology. 

‘Roman Castleford Uncovered’ will allow people to step back in time and experience what it was like to live in Roman Castleford.

Judi Alston, CEO/Creative Director of One to One Development Trust, said: “It is a wonderful opportunity to bring objects from the Museum collections from behind glass cases into the digital world where they can be explored in close detail through playful creativity and a range of technologies.”

The new interactive experience will showcase Wakefield Museum’s collection of Roman objects by creating digital versions of the objects that people will be able to interact with. 

From any smart phones or tablet devices, people will be able to: 

• Explore reconstructed scenes from Roman Castleford.
• Uncover and interact with archaeological finds from the museum collection.
• Interact with an Augmented Reality Roman soldier.

During the Roman Festival, on Saturday 31 May 10am-2.30pm, people can visit Queen’s Mill to get a preview of the new digital experience in development:

• Have a go with Augmented Reality and meet a Roman soldier
• Take a selfie in a digital Roman helmet.
• Help play-test a new interactive experience where people can uncover Roman treasure.
• See where the Roman settlements were from aerial footage of the town.

There will also be a geophysics survey happening on the site of the Roman Bathhouse (on the corner of Saville Road and Church Street) with Leeds University, between 10am-2.30pm. People can come and see what’s happening and chat to volunteers on site about the Roman archaeology and how we can use digital technology to see what is buried below our feet. 

Castleford was established as a Roman fort and important crossing point of the River Calder in the first century. After the fort was abandoned, Castleford continued as an important Roman settlement until the 4th Century, with evidence for the making of high-quality goods, including spoons and jewellery, and a Roman Bathhouse that was used for rest and recuperation. 

The project is part of the Our Heritage Our Stories project, which is funded by a grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. 

It is expected to be available to the public by the end of September 2025.