The National Trust for Scotland’s Battle of Bannockburn experience took home a top Museums + Heritage award for innovation.

The National Trust for Scotland’s Battle of Bannockburn experience took home a top Museums + Heritage award for innovation.

The joint entry from the Trust and interpretation designers Bright White Ltd triumphed over competition from Stonehenge and the Science Museum.

Opened in February 2014, the Battle of Bannockburn experience is the first heritage centre in the world using Hollywood-calibre motion capture to immerse visitors in a realistic and historically accurate 3D medieval battle.

Judges said it showed a ‘new way forward for this kind of interpretation’.

The panel, which included Diane Lees of the Imperial War Museum and Bernard Donoghue of the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions, added: “With subject matter which is notoriously difficult to interpret, the technology used here has brought the battle ground to life, successfully managing to be both fun and educational.” The cutting-edge approach was designed by interpretation consultants Bright White, working alongside the Glasgow School of Art’s Centre for Digital Documentation and Visualisation.

Property manager Scott McMaster said: “It is a huge honour to receive this prestigious award. Telling the story of Bannockburn has always been a challenge because of the lack of artefacts – a traditional approach was never going to work, so we did something brand new. To have this cutting-edge approach described as ‘a new way forward’ is a fantastic tribute to everyone involved.” The Battle of Bannockburn experience was supported by the Scottish Government and the Heritage Lottery Fund. It’s open all year round, seven days a week – book tickets at www.battleofbannockburn.com.