About
878 AD

878 AD Arrow

878 AD is a major new visitor attraction recreating a key moment in Winchester’s Anglo-Saxon history, brought to life through the world of the video game franchise Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, cinematic audio-visual projection and live interactive performance.

It is a unique, immersive experience that will take visitors back to a pivotal point, not only in the history of the city, but in the history of England as an emerging, unified nation: the defeat of the Vikings by Alfred the Great at the Battle of Edington in May 878.

878 AD recreates the atmosphere of the city and the lives of the people who lived in it on the eve of the battle, as they anxiously await its outcome.


The partnership

878 AD is a pioneering collaboration between the heritage sector, the gaming industry and technology innovators. It is the result of a unique partnership between Hampshire Cultural Trust and Ubisoft, creator of the global best-selling gaming series Assassin’s Creed, in collaboration with Sugar Creative, one of the UK’s leading immersive tech innovation studios.

Hampshire Cultural Trust

Hampshire Cultural Trust (HCT) was established in 2014 to promote Hampshire as a great cultural county. The trust manages and supports 24 arts and museums attractions across Hampshire, delivers county-wide outreach programmes that bring culture to local communities and cares for 2.5 million objects relating to Hampshire’s rich and internationally important heritage. HCT also delivers a diverse range of social impact initiatives targeted at those who are most vulnerable or disadvantaged and who would not usually have access to arts and culture. The trust’s mission is to provide great arts, heritage, museums and creative programming, working closely with local and national partners, placing communities, our collections and their stories at the heart of everything it does. To find out more, visit hampshireculture.org.uk and follow on Twitter @HantsCulture and Facebook @HampshireCulturalTrust and Instagram @hantsculture

Ubisoft

Ubisoft is a leading creator, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment and services, with a rich portfolio of world-renowned brands, including Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, For Honor, Just Dance, Watch Dogs, and Tom Clancy’s video game series including Ghost Recon®, Rainbow Six and The Division. Since it first launched in 2007, the Assassin’s Creed series has sold more than 200 million games worldwide. The franchise is now established as one of the best-selling series in video game history. Recognized for having some of the richest, most engrossing storytelling in the industry, Assassin’s Creed transcends video games, branching out into numerous other entertainment media.

To learn more, please visit: www.ubisoftgroup.com.

Sugar Creative

Sugar Creative delivers wonder through innovation. Bringing imagination to life for everything from entertainment to marketing and science. Specialising in the creation of immersive digital experiences, they work with UK and international partners including Aardman, Toyota, HCT, Ubisoft, Allianz, Dr.Seuss, Kingspan, BBC, Fictioneers, and OSMO and are regarded as one of the UK’s leading creative innovators.

These collaborations and partnerships have resulted in some of the most ground breaking immersive experiences including; 878AD: Winchester Revealed, an AR journey forming part of the 878AD exhibition, the cutting-edge AR game ‘Dr.Seuss’ ABC: An amazing AR alphabet’, and the trans-media story ‘Wallace and Gromit: The Big Fix Up’ and ‘Wallace and Gromit: Fix Up the City’.

In the last year, the studios work has seen critical and app store success with including a QLD XR Best in World award, shortlisting for two Cannes Lions, a BIMA10, UK App Award and been selected as a Createch 100 Ones to Watch.

Discover more at https://www.sugar.agency/

Our funders

The experience has received funding and support from both Winchester City Council and Hampshire County Council as well as Arts Council England, Garfield Weston Foundation, Art Fund and The Syder Foundation.

Together with generous contributions from a number of donors, this funding has enabled this one-of-a-kind project to come to fruition.

Academic research

The 878 AD experience tells stories about the lives of people in Anglo-Saxon Wessex based on high-quality academic research from an incredible team of historical advisors including:

Dr. Ryan Lavelle

Professor of Early Medieval History,
University of Winchester

Dr. Patrick Ottaway

Archaeological Consultant
P J O Archaeology

Bill Lucas

Professor of Learning at University of Winchesterand Chair of The English Project

Christopher Mulvey

Emeritus Professor of English, University of Winchester and trustee of The English Project

Dr. Lucy-Anne Taylor

Advisor on Anglo-Saxon Music

Angela Middleton

Archaeological Conservator, Historic England

Dr. Kathryn Rankin

µ-VIS X-ray Imaging Centre, University of Southampton. Supported by the National Research Facility for Lab X-ray CT (NXCT) through EPSRC grant EP/T02593X/1

Gill Campbell

Head of Fort Cumberland Laboratories Investigative Science Team, Historic England

Dr. Eric Lacey

Senior Lecturer Department of English, Creative Writing and American Studies, University of Winchester

Thierry Noël

PhD in History, Lead Inspirational Content Advisor, Ubisoft

Maxime Durand

World Design Director, Discovery Tour, Ubisoft

Winchester's Anglo-Saxon Future

878 AD is a first step to fulfil our longer-term vision: to create a permanent museum celebrating the city’s Anglo-Saxon past, and to establish Winchester as a significant cultural heritage destination.

Find out more