Exploring Victorian London: LSE and Lancaster University create Minecraft Education world bringing history to life
Catching rats, cleaning chimneys and building apartments – these are just some of the activities users can engage in while playing a new world build released today (29 September) for Minecraft Education* . A version of the world will be available for all players via the Minecraft Marketplace in the near future.
Created for the Library at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) by Lancaster University in partnership with Minecraft design company BlockWorks, the world is designed to teach players about social inequality in Victorian London. It is based on the poverty maps of Victorian London created by social reformer Charles Booth between 1886–1903 and held in the LSE Library archive.
The release of the world build coincides with LSE’s 130th anniversary during which the university will be celebrating its impact, past and present.
Radical when they were created, the maps revealed the true extent of poverty in London at the time. Each street covered by the maps was coloured to indicate the income and social class of its inhabitants, making them an important tool for visualising and quantifying social conditions and identifying patterns of poverty.
The world build called “Charles Booth’s London”, is structured around six different 'police walks' undertaken by Booth and his research assistant George Duckworth, accompanying police around their beats in London and recording their observations along the way.
Each virtual walk contains multiple activities which help bring history to life and give users an insight into Victorian London. These include conducting a survey of residents in their homes, building new Peabody apartments for families relocated from slums, shopping for a rich family and poor family in Covent Garden to understand their different needs, catching thieves in Seven Dials, cleaning chimneys, rat-catching and clearing sewers in Bedford Square.
Spanning a large section of Bloomsbury, from Lincoln's Inn Fields to the British Museum, key landmarks featured in the world build include the Royal Opera House and LSE Library where the world build starts – before players are transported back to the old King’s College Hospital which stood on the same site in the 1890s.
The world build, developed in a knowledge exchange partnership between BlockWorks, Professor Sally Bushell and Dr Rebecca Hutcheon from Lancaster University and staff at the LSE Library, has been primarily designed as an educational resource in schools for children aged 10-15, as well as interested players of all ages. It is accompanied by a learning booklet which references the original Booth maps in more detail.
A version of the world build for members of the public to play will be available on the Minecraft Marketplace later this year.
Commenting on the project, Beth Clark, Associate Director, Digital Scholarship and Innovation Group, LSE Library said: “We’re very excited about the release of this world build. The use of Minecraft Education enables the Library at LSE to engage new audiences in creative and innovative ways and bring history to life! LSE’s motto and founding purpose is about understanding the causes of things for the betterment of society. It seems very fitting, therefore, that we are able to share such a fantastic educational resource while celebrating our 130th anniversary.”
Professor Sally Bushell from Lancaster University said: “The LSE world build was a fascinating one to make because it was so closely linked to the Booth Archive. I really enjoyed reading and mapping out the original walks in the notebooks held at LSE and then bringing them to life. I also love the way Blockworks made a model of the actual LSE library today in the world build and then take you back in time to when it was Kings’ College Hospital.”
Key Facts
It took a team of 15 professional Minecraft builders and two academics over two years to create the world.
The world is made up of over 45 million blocks.
Over 1000 new blocks and textures were added to the world build to create an accurate Victorian atmosphere, including different types of London brick and wooden paving from Houghton Street.
Over 200 characters have been added to the map for players to interact with, including Charles Booth and other prominent figures from the survey team – including Beatrice Potter (later Beatrice Webb – who went on to co-found LSE).
Extra information
*“NOT AN OFFICIAL MINECRAFT EDUCATION PRODUCT. NOT APPROVED BY OR ASSOCIATED WITH MOJANG OR MICROSOFT”
For images from the world build, a copy of the trailer and for interviews with those involved in the project, please email the LSE press office on media.relations@lse.ac.uk
To view a trailer and for more information about the project, please visit: https://www.blockworks.uk/projects/charlesbooth
For more information about the poverty maps and to view them, please visit: https://booth.lse.ac.uk/
Schools and other institutions with a Minecraft Education Edition license, can access the map here: https://education.minecraft.net/en-us/lessons/charles-booth-s-londonhttps://education.minecraft.net/en-us/lessons/charles-booth-s-london
To find out more about LSE 130th anniversary celebrations, please visit: https://www.lse.ac.uk/lse-130