English Heritage
Building castles and confidence in Minecraft™
The summer holidays can be an amazing opportunity to reinforce learning outside of the classroom. In 2018, the English Heritage Trust seized this opportunity. They created an interactive summer programme for young people called #LoveCastles.
At famous historic castles across the UK, excited young people could join workshops and learn about battlement architecture by building their own 3D models in Minecraft™.
BlockBuilders delivered these multi-sited workshops, using 3D material contributed by the Blockworks design collective. In 2018, we went to Kenilworth and Dover. Our team was able to reconstruct Kenilworth Castle in its heyday and bring the past to life via a virtual reality (VR) headset! Then in 2019, the project expanded.
We visited 11 castles in total and opened a castle-building competition with an online server. YouTuber AmyLee33 (1M+ subscribers) joined a panel of judges in selecting the winners. Media attention encouraged many families to visit the castles managed by English Heritage. In total, over 1,000+ young people took part in the educational initiative, gaining confidence in both digital 3D design and local history.