After three years of highly skilled renovations, Rochester Cathedral proudly revealed their beautifully refurbished mediaeval crypt, ready to display an inaugural exhibition entitled ‘Rochester’s Mystery Book’.
We were commissioned to develop the identity and graphics for this opening exhibition.
One of the most important documents in English history, ‘Rochester’s Mystery Book’ was to be its centre piece. The first code of English law – having been written the early 1120s – it is officially known as the Textus Roffensis, and it influenced the wording of Magna Carta a century later in 1215. The British Library described it as ‘Britain’s Hidden Treasure’.
Here is a single revealing detail from the Book: “If a mouth or an eye becomes damaged, one is to compensate with 12 shillings,” exhorts the book, the four front teeth, meanwhile, are worth six shillings apiece, while “if one strikes off a thumb, 20 shillings”.
Riddles wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma
How then to do justice to this extraordinary story – while also make the very most of this beautiful new space? That was our creative challenge we faced. Working closely with the exhibition contractors, it was one we resolved in a myriad of ways.
As well as case displays, interpretation panels, the exhibition also included a word shower projection and a nine metre long timeline combining words, images and tactile objects, beginning in AD 604 when the cathedral was founded and ending in 2012 with the Olympic Games in London. Also, to specifically engage younger visitors, we created the graphics for an interactive children’s table.
A positive outcome
Today, Textus Roffensis is on permanent display in the Cathedral, and this exhibition has been pivotal in ensuring a significant increase in footfall in the years since the Crypt’s refurbishment.
