Wym Trails
Walk through Time
along the Wym Trail
FREE For all the family
Adults and young children can all enjoy following the same digital trail together, with two different options.
The Heritage Trail for adults and over 12s and the Henry the Hare trail for under 12s.
In the Museum of Norwich enjoy a VR experience of the battle in 1549.
To download the app now
go to App Store or Google Play and search for Wymondham AR Trails
Join the Kett’s Rebellion and follow this incredible story Robert Kett, a local landowner, was playing for high stakes in the summer of 1549, when he chose to stand up for the rights of the poor workers. He set out from Wymondham on the 8 July to march on Norwich. By the time he got there, 16,000 peasants had joined in and they set up camp on Mousehold Heath, looking down on the city. By 24 August it was all over.
Enjoy an entertaining walk
Using the free ‘Walk Through Time’ app, take in Wymondham’s picturesque market place, mediaeval lanes, ancient meadows and the magnificent Wymondham Abbey, while discovering the town’s turbulent past. The free digital apps with 360-degree virtual reality and 3D imaging will walk
you through time, telling the stories. See history come to life with augmented reality and interactive stories and unearth fires, hangings, and the gruesome Stanfield Hall murders, as well as the Kett’s Rebellion.
Important! The main Wym Trail is Suitable for adults and big kids over 12.
Along the way you’ll see our magnificent Wymondham Abbey and the Green Dragon, one of the oldest pubs in the country dating from the 1300s.
Under 12s follow Henry the Hare along the same Wym Trail
Younger children will love watching Henry the Hare come to life on their smartphone or tablet and set off on a virtual treasure hunt to help Henry find his lost belongings.
The children’s trail runs in parallel with the adult’s trail, so everyone can enjoy the experience together.
Jump into battle in Norwich – free
Via the VR headset in Museum of Norwich available from Summer 2022
You will be transported to August 1549, right into the middle of battles raging by the city walls. Witness the King’s men in hand-to-hand combat on Elm Hill and experience the decisive Battle of Dussindale.
Free to use and Suitable for over 12s.
In the Museum of Norwich in Bridewell Alley, Norwich.
Funding
The trails have been funded through a £116,000 grant from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development.
Tips and hints the best app experience
BEFORE
Download via Wi-Fi
Search for Wymondham AR Trails and download when connected to Wi-Fi.
Fully charged
Make sure your phone is fully charged.
Best devices
Please aim to use a phone which has been purchased new in the last 3-4 years.
Put your sound up to max
For the full experience.
Close all other apps
It’s good practice and makes a difference.
Keep the app open all the time
You don’t want to lose your spot.
Allow 1 hour
Both trails take around 60 minutes and follow the same route.
STARTING THE TRAIL
‘Walk Through Time’ Trail starts at the Market Cross by the raised town model.
‘Henry the Hare’ trail starts in front of the Hare statue.
- Open the app and angle your device towards the floor. Slowly move your device left and right to scan the floor. When the floor marker appears tap the screen.
- The trail route is a figure of 8 and you will crossover the starting point halfway through the trail.
- The map on your screen is for reference so please follow it with your finger and tap the numbers in sequence starting with 1, as you arrive at each point.
- Follow the app instructions to trigger experiences in the right places.
Wishing you wonderful walk and fun experiences as you discover Wymondham’s amazing history - have a great time!
Troubleshooting and FAQs
The app is designed to work on most modern handsets with GPS, a camera and a compass but the specification of your device will dictate the performance of these experiences ie. higher-end devices will offer greater support and provide a more stable augmented reality experience. Older devices may limit which experiences will work and some augmented reality experiences may be slightly patchy.
The mobile app is designed to work on the following devices:
- Apple iPhone 5s and above
- Most Android phones with Android 6 (Marshmallow) and above
- Tablet devices are not fully supported but should still work assuming they have a built in GPS, a camera and a compass as well as 3G/4G connectivity. Tablets that will work best with the app are Android 6 devices with a 16:9 aspect screen or similar (1920x1080 resolution) and 5th Generation iPads and iPad Pros that have 3G/4G connectivity. Please note, screen layouts may look stretched in places due to the square nature of the screen. Older iPads may work but cannot be guaranteed.
Please be aware, the app is not compatible with the following devices:
- iPhone 5c or older, Samsung S5, Samsung Note 4 or older and Motorola G4.
This is not a definitive list. Please note, an early version of the app was available for these devices but compatibility has since been withdrawn.
Users that downloaded an early release of the app will therefore not be able to download a later, improved version of the app.
We recommend running version 1.1.8 or later for the optimum app experience. Please delete any older versions and re-install
Not all areas along the trail are suitable for wheelchair users, but the route can be adapted. Please refer to the Accessibility drop down section below.
It is advisable to download the app before you visit Wymondham. The app can be downloaded free of charge from the Apple or Google Play stores. Please note, the app is approximately 700MB in size. You can download this app through your mobile data if you enough signal, data charges with your provider may apply. If your device has insufficient storage to download the content for the trails, it will close and display a message to advise you of this. You will need to free up space on your device in order for the app to successfully download. The app will run an initial install. You will then need to open the app and download the relevant trail prior to arriving in Wymondham. Please note, the download time will vary depending on your device and internet speed.
Open up the app and navigate to the trail you wish to complete.
Make sure your audio is switched on and keep the app open on your device at all times so it can track your location and alert you of nearby experiences. The alerts will advise you where to head next. Alternatively, please refer to the map and follow the numbered markers.
Battery life on devices is unpredictable and a number of variables contribute to battery performance such as the age and spec of your device. We recommend starting the trail with a fully charged device. Battery life on Apple devices in particular is unpredictable due to the nature of the technology being employed by Apple to achieve the AR experiences (ARKit usage).
When the app launches, you will be asked for certain permissions. You will need to enable these permissions in order for the trail to work. If you experience issues after allowing all of the requested permissions, we recommend you check the global location settings on your devices which may be overriding the app settings.
Your device will require GPS, a camera and a compass in order to run the trails. The app will not work on wifi only devices as the technology is based on GPS. Devices with SIM cards will have higher accuracy in terms of location services which will help the app to accurately detect your location.
Yes, you can use the slider positioned in the bottom left of the screen to zoom in and out of the map. You can also pinch and pull the map.
How can I trigger the experiences? Experiences should trigger an alert based on your GPS location. If the alerts don’t appear to be working, you can manually trigger an experience by tapping the numbered marker on the map when you reach the location. You may need to zoom into the map to tap the marker.
Yes, once you’ve viewed the experience and returned to the map view, you can tap the numbered marker. A ‘Replay’ icon will display top left of the screen. If you tap this, you’ll be able to view the experience again.
This could be due to lots of other apps being open/used at the same time. Once you launch an application, it will continue to run in the background on your device even after you’ve left it. Over time, when you have multiple applications all running at the same time, it will cause your device to lag. The Wym Trails app is processor intensive and will struggle to run alongside a host of other applications. We therefore recommend that you close down as many other apps/webpages as possible before launching the app.
On iPhone/iPad, double tap the main Home button twice quickly (screenshot below). This will reveal all apps/webpages that are currently running in the background. Simply swipe upwards to close each application.
On Android devices, launch the recent application menu (how you do this will vary from device to device). On some devices you may have the option to ‘Clear All’. If not you can manually choose which applications to close by tapping the cross top right of each window.
The app uses your location to alert you of experiences along the trail where there is something to see. Without location services, the app is unable to detect your location and to serve up alert notifications.
After the 5 second countdown, the AR object will be placed into the environment around you. For some experiences, graphics will appear on screen to guide you in the direction of the object. Please scan the surrounding area with your device to locate the AR object. Please note, the stability of the AR object will depend on the specification of your device. Occasionally, if the device is struggling to detect the environment, it may not place the object successfully.
The trail travels in a figure of 8, so you will pass the start point about half way round the trail and you will end the trail close to the start. As the experiences are triggered by GPS, this may mean you will re-trigger earlier experiences or potentially trigger later experiences when you are in close proximity. If your app signals the trail has ended at this point, please ignore the message, refer to the trail map and continue walking towards the next trail point. The app should then continue with alerts as previously.
If you’re enjoying the app, please leave a review on the app store and encourage others to give it a try. Alternatively, navigate to ‘Give feedback’ in the burger menu on the app to provide feedback.