Squiggs
TS Team
So, the ruins.
I can't stress enough how important it is to get as much of the Towers back open to the public as quickly as possible - all the areas of the ruins, which were formerly open but have in the past decade disappeared backstage/behind Scaremazes/turned into storage, is heritage at risk. When these areas were open to the public, Merlin (and Tussauds before them) were held to account on a daily basis for the upkeep of these areas - basic maintenance and upkeep had to occur to simply allow the public into the ruins.
That regular upkeep no longer has to occur as often, and you can see the results. The Music Room and Library, for example, were once kept in near a pristine condition (or at least as pristine as a ruin can get). Now they are a glorified storage area for Scarefest, filled with rubbish (as in actual trash) and the original plaster work seems to have been damaged by Merlin staff as they've been hefting Scarefest equipment in and out of the space.
But the actual point of this topic is... Getting somewhat impatient for Merlin to create a viable long term solution to opening the ruins, and somewhat concerned that the dithering might actually because there's not enough in-house knowledge to create a meaningful attraction out of the Towers, I thought I'd bash out an overview of what I would put into a self-guided 'Heritage Tour'/museum piece in the ruins.
The below would be my opening gambit for a Heritage Tour, this is what I would do if putting together a very basic setup on a single floor, with the idea that once you have the basics down you can easily expand into the West Wing, Basement and Upper floors too. Without too much effort, you could bring the entire habitable areas of the Towers into use, with every room focused on a different part of the History of the Towers.
To give a brief overview of how I would lay things out:
1. Guests enter through the South end of the Conservatory, and the first change would be to the 'fake wall' which blocks off The Octagon/Hex - it gives a false impression of how this part of the house would have looked, so this would become a picture wall, recreating the view that is hidden, showing what the door to the Octagon once looked like. (Similar 'Feature Walls' appear throughout the attraction, showing off areas that are currently off limits for various reasons)
2. The central octagon of the Conservatory houses a suitably themed ticket desk, sitting on a replica of the original floor. My thought would be that given we're in the era of this being a paid attraction - a sensible price would be something like £5 for a single admission, or £25 for a Heritage Pass for a full season's access, including a ticket to one of the Guided Tours.
3. Entering the Drawing Room, the first display discusses the Grand Entrance to Alton Towers, and the processional route through the house - the Armoury, Picture Gallery, Octagon and Conservatory, which would have brought you to the Drawing Room. From this point you can also see the full extent of the house, being able to see the full South/North Vista (Octagon > Long Gallery) and West/East Vista (Library > Chapel) and depending on your business with the Earl you'd now head one of three directions, which leads us on to:
4. The Chapel Corridor - another Feature Wall here would either show a depiction of how the route from the main house to the Chapel would have appeared, or possibly a perspex screen would look out into the ruins in between (I have no idea what state the east end of the corridor is in these days).
5. Doubling back into the Waxwork Room, a display in here would introduce the ancient history of the Towers, from the Saxons and Bunbury Hillfort, via the Norman Alton Castle and the origins of Alveton Lodge through to the Civil War. Then back into the Drawing Room to introduce how Alton Lodge became Alton Abbey and eventually Alton Towers.
6. The Long Gallery is dedicated to the Architecture of Alton Towers. Originally this room would have had a plaster vaulted ceiling, and to give an idea of how this would have looked, a freestanding light-weight replica of the first two sections of this ceiling would be overhead as you enter (similar to the Scaremazes, this would be set away from the walls and supported by replicas of the original columns that lined this room). The two alcoves to your right would introduce that originally the Long Gallery was two rooms, and this was the library before later renovations.
All the windows of the Gallery would be uncovered and the current wooden blackouts, would be replaced by Perspex featuring replicas of the original window designs, including the Black Prince stained-glass window in the centre frame. There's also one original column still in situ in the room to show off, which could also be joined by the original glass door, which is in storage at the park and used to hang between the Gallery and the neighbouring Glass Corridor.
7. Into the Family Dining Room, there would be a partition showing where the Glass Corridor once cut through the room (the current Attic Layout actually simulates this quite well). The main feature of this room would be an introduction to the 15th-17th Earls who had a hand in building the house, as well as the various architects who built all the different extensions from 1811 through to Pugin when he arrived in the 1830s. There is also an opportunity here to introduce Pugin's opinionated style, given he reputedly disliked the fireplace in this room (along with lots of other features of Alton Towers, according to his letters).
8. In the Banqueting Hall, Pugin's time at Alton Towers is expanded upon. The particular focus would be on how Pugin transformed the original entrance hall of Alton Abbey into the Banqueting Hall we see today, with the iconic Stained Glass Window. The sealed up doorway in this room was the 'family' entrance to the Dining Room, leading through from the Earl's private apartments in the East Wing, which could be used for another Feature Wall, showing a recreation of what the oak-panelled octagonal hallway beyond might have looked like.
9. Guests would then head back to the Drawing Room, where the next display discusses the death of the Pugin, 16th and 17th Earls and the start of the decline of Alton Towers.
10. There is then an opportunity to visit the roof, using the stairs in the Small Library.
11. Having descended back down from the roof, the tour continues into the Music Room, which introduces the West Wing and features another freestanding recreation, showing how one corner of this room would have looked, which can be compared to the original plasterwork and other features that can be found in this room.
12. The North Library and Poets Bay also has original plasterwork to admire, along with other period features. The main displays in this room would focus on the Destruction of Alton Towers, using photos of these rooms to show the state the building was in by the 50s, both before, during and after the assets were striped.
13. Back through the other arch into the Music Room, our attention turns to the Restoration of the House, showing off the stained-glass bay window in the Music Room, which was restored in 2012, as well as discussing the work of John Broome, Tussauds and Merlin to restore different aspects of the house. This would also be an opportunity for Merlin to show off their future heritage plans in the Small Library, before guests exit the tour through the restored Conservatory.
At least that's what I would do.
(If anyone from Merlin is reading, you know where to find me if you want a hand
)
I can't stress enough how important it is to get as much of the Towers back open to the public as quickly as possible - all the areas of the ruins, which were formerly open but have in the past decade disappeared backstage/behind Scaremazes/turned into storage, is heritage at risk. When these areas were open to the public, Merlin (and Tussauds before them) were held to account on a daily basis for the upkeep of these areas - basic maintenance and upkeep had to occur to simply allow the public into the ruins.
That regular upkeep no longer has to occur as often, and you can see the results. The Music Room and Library, for example, were once kept in near a pristine condition (or at least as pristine as a ruin can get). Now they are a glorified storage area for Scarefest, filled with rubbish (as in actual trash) and the original plaster work seems to have been damaged by Merlin staff as they've been hefting Scarefest equipment in and out of the space.
But the actual point of this topic is... Getting somewhat impatient for Merlin to create a viable long term solution to opening the ruins, and somewhat concerned that the dithering might actually because there's not enough in-house knowledge to create a meaningful attraction out of the Towers, I thought I'd bash out an overview of what I would put into a self-guided 'Heritage Tour'/museum piece in the ruins.
The below would be my opening gambit for a Heritage Tour, this is what I would do if putting together a very basic setup on a single floor, with the idea that once you have the basics down you can easily expand into the West Wing, Basement and Upper floors too. Without too much effort, you could bring the entire habitable areas of the Towers into use, with every room focused on a different part of the History of the Towers.
To give a brief overview of how I would lay things out:
1. Guests enter through the South end of the Conservatory, and the first change would be to the 'fake wall' which blocks off The Octagon/Hex - it gives a false impression of how this part of the house would have looked, so this would become a picture wall, recreating the view that is hidden, showing what the door to the Octagon once looked like. (Similar 'Feature Walls' appear throughout the attraction, showing off areas that are currently off limits for various reasons)
2. The central octagon of the Conservatory houses a suitably themed ticket desk, sitting on a replica of the original floor. My thought would be that given we're in the era of this being a paid attraction - a sensible price would be something like £5 for a single admission, or £25 for a Heritage Pass for a full season's access, including a ticket to one of the Guided Tours.
3. Entering the Drawing Room, the first display discusses the Grand Entrance to Alton Towers, and the processional route through the house - the Armoury, Picture Gallery, Octagon and Conservatory, which would have brought you to the Drawing Room. From this point you can also see the full extent of the house, being able to see the full South/North Vista (Octagon > Long Gallery) and West/East Vista (Library > Chapel) and depending on your business with the Earl you'd now head one of three directions, which leads us on to:
4. The Chapel Corridor - another Feature Wall here would either show a depiction of how the route from the main house to the Chapel would have appeared, or possibly a perspex screen would look out into the ruins in between (I have no idea what state the east end of the corridor is in these days).
5. Doubling back into the Waxwork Room, a display in here would introduce the ancient history of the Towers, from the Saxons and Bunbury Hillfort, via the Norman Alton Castle and the origins of Alveton Lodge through to the Civil War. Then back into the Drawing Room to introduce how Alton Lodge became Alton Abbey and eventually Alton Towers.
6. The Long Gallery is dedicated to the Architecture of Alton Towers. Originally this room would have had a plaster vaulted ceiling, and to give an idea of how this would have looked, a freestanding light-weight replica of the first two sections of this ceiling would be overhead as you enter (similar to the Scaremazes, this would be set away from the walls and supported by replicas of the original columns that lined this room). The two alcoves to your right would introduce that originally the Long Gallery was two rooms, and this was the library before later renovations.
All the windows of the Gallery would be uncovered and the current wooden blackouts, would be replaced by Perspex featuring replicas of the original window designs, including the Black Prince stained-glass window in the centre frame. There's also one original column still in situ in the room to show off, which could also be joined by the original glass door, which is in storage at the park and used to hang between the Gallery and the neighbouring Glass Corridor.
7. Into the Family Dining Room, there would be a partition showing where the Glass Corridor once cut through the room (the current Attic Layout actually simulates this quite well). The main feature of this room would be an introduction to the 15th-17th Earls who had a hand in building the house, as well as the various architects who built all the different extensions from 1811 through to Pugin when he arrived in the 1830s. There is also an opportunity here to introduce Pugin's opinionated style, given he reputedly disliked the fireplace in this room (along with lots of other features of Alton Towers, according to his letters).
8. In the Banqueting Hall, Pugin's time at Alton Towers is expanded upon. The particular focus would be on how Pugin transformed the original entrance hall of Alton Abbey into the Banqueting Hall we see today, with the iconic Stained Glass Window. The sealed up doorway in this room was the 'family' entrance to the Dining Room, leading through from the Earl's private apartments in the East Wing, which could be used for another Feature Wall, showing a recreation of what the oak-panelled octagonal hallway beyond might have looked like.
9. Guests would then head back to the Drawing Room, where the next display discusses the death of the Pugin, 16th and 17th Earls and the start of the decline of Alton Towers.
10. There is then an opportunity to visit the roof, using the stairs in the Small Library.
11. Having descended back down from the roof, the tour continues into the Music Room, which introduces the West Wing and features another freestanding recreation, showing how one corner of this room would have looked, which can be compared to the original plasterwork and other features that can be found in this room.
12. The North Library and Poets Bay also has original plasterwork to admire, along with other period features. The main displays in this room would focus on the Destruction of Alton Towers, using photos of these rooms to show the state the building was in by the 50s, both before, during and after the assets were striped.
13. Back through the other arch into the Music Room, our attention turns to the Restoration of the House, showing off the stained-glass bay window in the Music Room, which was restored in 2012, as well as discussing the work of John Broome, Tussauds and Merlin to restore different aspects of the house. This would also be an opportunity for Merlin to show off their future heritage plans in the Small Library, before guests exit the tour through the restored Conservatory.
At least that's what I would do.
(If anyone from Merlin is reading, you know where to find me if you want a hand
)
