Custodian tips
Here are our custodians' suggestions of things to look at and listen to when using Pyka_Lens App at sites...
Specific areas of visual interest (e.g. landmarks, interesting textures, areas of the site that are usually missed/overlooked/not the main attraction)
Eagle Tower encompasses a variety of elements, including: a variety of stone and wood textures, sounds of footsteps on the spiral stone stairs, wind noise (outside and through the arrow loops), birds, etc. A visitor could also embrace the royal associations that make Castell Caernarfon unique in Wales, for example the textures of the slate dais, by touch you are reaching back into the past. Also there are sound and film clips of Prince Charles’s speech in 1969.
Use your imagination to show differences in temperature within the rooms that are now cold and empty, but would once have had roaring log fires in the variety of fireplaces that can be found in every tower and room.
The sight of the castle kitchens still provide a sense of how cooking was undertaken through the ages.
Take notice of the King’s Gate entrance, which would have been a killing zone armed with murder holes, arrow loops and portcullises.
Specific environmental interest (e.g. surrounding scenery, landscape, seasonal wildlife)
River Seiont and Menai Straits visible form the top of most towers. In contrast to the east of the castle you have the Eryri (Snowdonia) mountain range and the rural nature of this in contrast to the urban buildings of the town itself. Also the wealth of baby seagulls in the spring and early summer is a sight and sound which engulf Caernarfon; the town walls offer a different aspect on the Caernarfon fortifications, especially along the waterfront.
Specific areas of sonic interest (e.g. naturally occurring sounds, sounds from installations at the site, areas with interesting echoes or reverberation)
Wind noise around the towers and curtain walls. The dripping of water in the 2 deep wells. You are guaranteed to hear the Welsh language spoken both in and around Castell Caernarfon. In the Black Tower you will hear the chanting of medieval choristers.
