OUTDOOR ATTRACTIONS AND GARDENS CLOSED AT PRESENT, PLEASE RING 01424 893938 FOR FURTHER INFO.

Yesterday's World is set to become home to one of the largest collections of royalty artefacts and memorabilia in the country with the opening of a new state of the art exhibition centre. The main feature will be a specially commissioned fully interactive audio-visual display, which will describe the social changes, inventions and developments that occurred during the reign of Queen Victoria.

Sneak preview (1MB) Latest News Latest Pictures Also Opening

An Audience with Queen Victoria Exhibition The new exhibition will use the latest 3D computer generated imagery (CGI) and display screen technology.   2 46” LCD displays mounted on the walls will be activated by numerous proximity motion sensors to give the impression of 2 giant oil painting portraits that come to life.   Visitors will also be invited to learn more about a range of subjects via a touch screen activated control panel, including Victorian Inventions, Battle in Victorian Times and the Lives of Victorian Children. Many of the objects and visual effects, which will also include some film footage, will be generated in 3D to enable the viewer to see all around a particular item.  The revolutionary project, the likes of which has never been seen before in the South of England, is being undertaken by local  company, Pilot Models, whose portfolio includes work for Drusillas Park, the Kent Hop Farm Country Park and Blackgang Chine.     Latest Pictures

Latest News 

29 June 2006 ~ Filming of The Railway scene

The Kent and East Sussex Railway team kindly allowed us to use of their station at Tenterden as the location for our final set of filming this week. 15 extras played the parts of rich Victorian ladies, gentlemen and children boarding the train for a scene about the Victorian Railway. Once the set was dressed it looked very authentic and certainly drew the attention of several members of the public!

24 June 2006 ~ Filming of the Victoria comes to Battle scene

Queen Victoria visited the town of Battle when she was 15 years old.. Today we recreated the scene of her taking luncheon and perusing the battlefield with her mother.

21 June 2006 ~ Post Production of Duchess of Cleveland Scene

17June 2006 ~ Duchess of Cleveland filming

Today we filmed the Duchess of Cleveland scene on location at Petley Wood Equestrian Centre. The Duchess lived in Battle Abbey during the reign of Queen Victoria and became famous for riding around the town on a white donkey accompanied by her white Russian greyhound. We allowed ourselves some creative license in recreating the scene and used Welsh Mountain pony, Topsy, for the starring equine role, courtesy of Petley Wood. 'The Duchess' wore a Victorian riding habit complete with a top hat and veil to ride side saddle in front of a green screen. Everything went very well and even the hound (kindly lent by Claire Miles and played by Blanc) completed several successful takes in spite of the heat. The final cut will show the Duchess riding down Battle High Street with her white dog, whilst being mocked by a rabble of poor Victorian boys.

June 2006 ~ Location, Location, Location!

Planning for the next set of filming is now in full swing, which will include 3 shoots on location to complement the animations that have been created in the studio. A lot of work has gone in to organising the costumes and actors and in getting the right locations for the scenes, which include Queen Victoria and Prince Albert arriving in Battle via steam train, the Duchess of Cleveland riding her famous white ass and a young Queen Victoria and her mother perusing the grounds of Battle Abbey. Meanwhile preparation work is continuing outside at Yesterday's World with the erection of the building set to begin within the next couple of months.

March 2006 ~ Victorian Children filming

This week we travelled up to the Hop Farm Country Park in Kent with Crowhurst Church of England Primary School to shoot some scenes for the Lives of Victorian Children section of the exhibition. The children dressed up as chimney sweeps, street urchins and rich children to recreate various scenes for the day, including a lesson in a Victorian School Room, being taught by a governess and working on the streets of Victorian England. Photos from the day Some of the scenes, such as the one with the two chimney sweeps, were filmed in front of a 'green screen', so that an animation could be superimposed onto the background. In the final cut all of the clips will be masked with a sepia colour effect to make them look as old and grainy as possible.

Feb 2006 ~ Soundtrack

The vocal soundtrack for Queen Victoria’s script has now been laid down. The recording of the script was carried out at a professional sound studio in Hastings by local actress and historian, Janet Brooman. Now the intricate process of lip synchronisation with the animated character can begin. It is vital that even the tiniest facial movements are perfected in order to make the speech look as life-like as possible.

Thank yous

We would like to thank the following people and businesses for all their help and hard work:

Battle Abbey, Claire Miles, Crowhurst C of E Primary School, English Heritage, Farthings Saddlery, Petley Wood Equestrian Centre, Kent Hop Farm Country Park, Kent & East Sussex Railway, Mad Hatters and Theatre Gear.

Also Opening

As well as the new exhibition and displays, onsite improvements to the centre will include:

* A licensed indoor cafe serving a delicious range of hot and cold refreshments
* Brand new toilets included disabled toilet and baby changing facilities
* A separate area available for schools and parties
* English country garden and picnic area
* Children's Victorian Play Village
* Toddlers' activity area

"Yesterday's World is already one of the most popular attractions in 1066 Country, and I am very excited at this new exhibition. It is sure to appeal to our visitors, and make 1066 Country an even better place to visit." Kevin Boorman, Manager of 1066 Country Marketing