Selby historic artefacts to be recreated on Minecraft to inspire new generation of historians

The ten objects range from ancient treasures from the time of the North Yorkshire town’s abbey being built, to food products from beloved local businesses.

The chosen objects are: a collection of sauce bottles from Fletcher’s, a family heirloom Cheeseman’s Shawl, the Selby Abbey Roof Boss carving that was damaged in the fire of 1906, a Roman Turnhead Facepot, a pouch of Maundy Money, a Selby one pound banknote, the Selby Abbey Seal of the Benedictine Abbey of St Mary and St Germanus and a Christie’s Ballroom Plate.

The town’s Abbey has already been recreated by Minecraft experts as part of the High Street Heritage Action Zone project, with young people invited to join in design workshops.

Online 3D models of all the artefacts are also to be created to allow heritage fans to explore them in detail.

Coun Tim Grogan, Lead Member for Health and Culture, explained: “The chosen artefacts represent the rich heritage of Selby and I’m delighted at the wide variety of different items that have been selected. These will now be scanned to record every little detail so it can be turned into an online 3D model so you can see all its little details as if you were holding it in your hands.

“The models will also be embedded in a digital Minecraft Selby, as a place to discover them around the town. Within the Minecraft game KrashLabs have built Selby Abbey and Abbot’s Staith and have been working to layout our town in its online map. These sessions are a brilliant way to inspire young people and actively engage with them about the town’s history.”