Bringing a medieval document to life.

In September 2025, I was commissioned by Dr Tom Johnson of the University of Oxford to work with him on a joint project with Suffolk Archives. This project was funded by the British Academy.

The objective of the project was to bring life to the voices of Tudor mariners from the Orwell Estuary, Suffolk, by making a 500 year old legal document (written in Latin and Middle English) accessible to a contemporary audience.

I led on the community aspect of the project by:
- Recruiting local men to to record the witness testimonies in both Middle English and a modern translation
- Helping to facilitate an event for an audience of 180 people at Suffolk Archives’ Hold venue
- Promoting the project across the Shotley Peninsula and Orwell Estuary area

I was also commissioned to compose and perform a live sound piece with visuals, a recording of which can be viewed on this page.

One attendee contacted me to say that "Your performance was entrancing. It was simply brilliant and captured so much feeling and connection with an event 500 years ago."


The future of the project
Dr Tom Johnson and myself are expanding the project throughout 2026 to include
- A talk and performance in Woolverstone
- A one-off guided soundwalk along the river Orwell
- A permanent geolocated soundwalk

Please use the links on this page to view the digital exhibition and to find out more about my process and project management work on this project.