Reconstructing Kenilworth’s historic abbey with Augmented Reality
Explore the Kenilworth Revealed App
In partnership with passionate local historians, we teamed with Kenilworth Town Council to bring St Mary’s Abbey and its surroundings back to life using AR. Created for visitors to Kenilworth, families, and the local community, Kenilworth Revealed offers insights into the history of St Mary’s Abbey, alongside a gamified AR trail across the Abbey Fields and stunning 3D reconstructions of the medieval abbey.
Partners
Developed in partnership with Kenilworth Town Council, and a dedicated steering committee composed of local residents, members of the Kenilworth History and Archaeology Society, Warwick District Council and English Heritage, the project has also been supported by a variety of local organisations.
These organisations include the Kenilworth Lions Club, Kenilworth Rotary International and Warwickshire County Council. This project was also made possible by UK Government Funding and support from the HS2 Business & Local Economy Fund.
We’re proud to have been a part of a project so deeply rooted in community and collaboration, reflecting Zubr’s own ethos.
It will encourage more people to come and discover what was once here. They can't see very much at the moment above ground, but this augmented reality project will bring the site to life.
Jan Cooper, Kenilworth History & Archaeology Society and Steering Committee member
It will encourage more people to come and discover what was once here. They can't see very much at the moment above ground, but this augmented reality project will bring the site to life.
Jan Cooper, Kenilworth History & Archaeology Society and Steering Committee member
Rebuilding St Mary's Abbey
Headed up by former Kenilworth Mayor, Professor Alan Chalmers, the Kenilworth team gathered a wealth of historical reference material in order to inform our 3D reconstruction of the site and its surroundings. Focusing on the abbey’s condition during the early 1500s, consultations with local historians ensured accuracy when building from the archival materials.
As part of our research process, the Zubr team embarked on regular trips to Kenilworth to ensure a strong connection with the Kenilworth experts throughout, as well as carrying out onsite research, measurements and photography. In Kenilworth, we visited Kenilworth Castle and the infamous Custard Corner, to contextualise the abbey’s surroundings.
Our team also carried out research trips to our nearby Bristol Cathedral Chapter House, constructed in around 1160 – just 40 years after the construction of St Mary’s – in order to better understand the architectural styles of the period. We particularly focused on the rounded arches that span the ceiling, as it is believed similar vaulted ceiling arches existed in St Mary’s parlour, nave, and chapter house.
Perfecting the 3D model
In one of our most ambitious modelling projects to date, Zubr’s 3D artists reconstructed not only the 16th century abbey, but the extensive landscape around it – including the medieval market place, where Kenilworth’s high street now stands! From the position of the abbey, the maximum distance to the outermost point of the modelled landscape was around 700 metres, with a radius of approximately 340 metres modelled from the centre of the site. This level of virtual world-building was only possible with close attention paid to the historical research materials, creating original 3D assets calibrated with precise site measurements.
One unique challenge posed by St Mary’s Abbey was capturing the distinctive tone of the red sandstone walls. In order to capture this warm hue, our 3D artists created custom textures which replicated the stone in as much detail as possible. In another inventive method to capture precise historical detail, Zubr’s team visited the on-site museum in Kenilworth to take photographs of tiles recovered from the abbey ruins. These photographs were then traced by our 3D artists and input into the Substance Designer software to create masks which replicate the patterns of the tiles. This meant we were able to create various configurations of those patterns to build an authentic tiled floor throughout, as seen in the reconstructed choir and chapter house.
AR Trails and video content
Through a gamified “collect ‘em all” approach, users can encounter 30 different hotspots around the Abbey Fields, marked by carved stone plaques. Allowing users to roam freely around the site, with a variety of themed trails or open map playability, the AR Trails are designed to be replayed and played again.
Users can also collect themed relics after visiting each hotspot. Once an entire trail’s worth of relics have been collected, users will unlock a themed quiz to test their knowledge after reading, watching and listening to each historical titbit. Successful quiz winners will also earn special gold status for each trail category they complete, further gamifying the experience.
Adding another immersive dimension, spatialised audiovisual scenes are available at various hotspots throughout the AR Trails. Capturing historical characters who once dwelled in or around the abbey, as well as fascinating stories of abbey life, the filmed characters who appear are in fact local people of Kenilworth – filmed and embodied as historical characters. Adopting an unusual combination of video and 3D modelling, Zubr’s VFX expertise came into play as we embedded the video content within the AR experience. Filmed by Birmingham University, who employed pioneering capture techniques, the multi-layered videos appear more lifelike than simple avatars – with one scene featuring a real-life horse and cart!
The 360 rendered scenes have been optimised for a smooth mobile performance, meaning users will get the most out of their visit to the Abbey Fields.
Digitally restored over 450 years later
After months of AR calibration, on-site testing, and hands-on collaboration with historians, modellers, and developers, Kenilworth Revealed launched in November 2025.
Sharing in the excitement of our project partners, we’re proud to share an Augmented Reality experience that offers an unprecedented level of detail, dutifully restoring the lost St Mary’s Abbey to its former glory. With so much on offer onsite, curious history lovers can also explore the 3D model of the abbey through the Kenilworth Town Council website – so no one misses out on a taste of this medieval marvel!