University News Last updated 10 June 2014
Museum visitors will now be able to have more access than ever before to precious artifacts and collections, thanks to experts at Birmingham City University.
Researchers from Birmingham City University helped to analyse and bring to life a 400-year-old hoard of jewellery, resulting in the Museum of London’s most successful charging exhibition on record. The Cheapside Hoard: London’s Lost Jewels attracted over 140,000 visitors during the seven month exhibition.
The successful project has paved the way for museums to allow important research to be undertaken, allowing insight into forgotten history, whilst causing no damage to priceless artifacts.
The Cheapside Hoard, arguably one of the most remarkable finds ever recovered from British soil in 1912, is the greatest cache of Elizabethan and Jacobean jewellery in the world.
The research approach for the exhibition, blended traditional craftsmanship with state-of-the-art technology, a merge of disciplines which brought a new perspective to the investigation. Utilising craftsmanship analysis, laser scanning, Computer Aided Design (CAD) and 3D printing, the results were disseminated in a number of innovative exhibits. These exhibits took the form of digital step-by-step scenarios and ‘direct 3D handling exhibits’ - which connected 400 years of history revealing the ‘as now’ and ‘as new’.
Through the application of digital technologies and
craftsmanship, the University have delivered 
novel solutions, creating technological bridges that protect and allow access to irreplaceable and fragile artefacts.
Birmingham City University is featuring in a UK-wide campaign next week, to highlight the value and importance of university research in our everyday lives. Universities Week 2014 launched on Monday 9 June at the Natural History Museum in London, where a week-long public event is showcasing some of the best of UK university research.
Researchers from Birmingham City University will join teams from 44 other UK universities represented at the Museum during the week. The exhibition will include research stations, pop-up performances, debates and live research demonstrations, covering a range of research themes.