St. Mary's Church, Putney - Audioposts Ltd have been chosen to provide the audio and video playback system a permanent exhibition at St. Mary's Church in Putney.

Heritage Lottery Fund award to St Mary’s church Putney for Putney Debates exhibition

The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) has awarded £32,500 to St Mary’s church, Putney for the creation of a permanent exhibition to mark The Putney Debates which took place there 360 years ago on 28 October, 1647.

The Exhibition – The Putney Debates 1647: Cromwell and Democracy 2007
opens on 28 October 2007. St Mary’s won a Guardian readers’ competition in 2006 for the event most needing marking in Britain’s radical past. The Debates, which represent a turning point in the struggle for democracy, took place at a time when the Roundheads were winning the English civil war.  Oliver Cromwell’s New Model Army had bested the Cavaliers and Charles I himself was in custody.  The rank and file of the Roundhead army argued their case for a democratic state based on male suffrage, religious toleration, rights of property and parliamentary reform.  Transcripts of the debates taken by army secretary William Clarke only came to light in the nineteenth century. These extraordinary discussions remain as vibrant today as 360 years ago.

 It will include:

• Extracts from William Clarke’s transcripts of the Debates and how the manuscript came to be found in Worcester College Oxford by former keeper Lesley le Claire.
• Protagonists in the Debates, including local firebrand preacher Hugh Peters
• Putney in the 17th century plus many images and maps of the area by Wandsworth Historical Society
• The Church in the 17th c.: Oxford historian William Whyte
• The Debates, Democracy and Civil Rights: Geoffrey Robertson QC
• An audio narrative extracts from the Debates and audio description
• A video introduced by Tristram Hunt with interviews with leading politicians and historians

Tristram Hunt, historian and HLF trustee, commented: "There will also be a week of events 26 October including performances by Wimbledon Youth Theatre and Kingston University Drama students, a political debate organised by Verso publishers chaired by Shami Chakrabarti, an American university event on the connection between the Debates and the US constitution, re-enactment by Civil War Society the Sealed Knot and a river event rowing Black Rod from Westminster to Putney. " www.PutneyDebates.com

Rev Giles Fraser, vicar of St Mary’s said:
“The civil wars of the 1640s still stand as a pinnacle of our progressive past.  We are delighted that St Mary’s can reveal the important ideas that inspired the Debates and help people make a real connection with their past.  The words of Rainsborough are inscribed above our entrance: ‘I think that the poorest he that is in England hath a life to live as the greatest he’.”

Cadw trialing new technology at Caerwent

The post is part of a wider Cadw initiative to improve interpretation at sites where a personal welcome to visitors is not possible at all times. If the trial proves to be successful, it is proposed that the audio posts will be introduced at a number of other unmanned Cadw sites during 2007.

The audio posts, which did not disturb archaeology during their installation, are expected to operate for over three months before batteries require recharging. A counter has also been included in the design to help Cadw calculate the number of visitors using the system and visiting the Roman town.

Rhys Beetham of Audio Posts, said, “Cadw is one of the first organistions in Wales to trial this new technology. We believe this, and future audio posts, provide a vital information tool to give visitors and local residents alike a much more interactive and fun relationship with their favourite historic sites.”