Messaging and Responsive Website Design & Development.
Poet, satirist, letter writer and garden designer, Alexander Pope lived and worked in Twickenham for the last 25 years of his life. It was here, beside the Thames at Cross Deep, that he created his villa, gardens, and the extraordinary grotto that remains one of the most distinctive features of 18th-century landscape design.
After more than 200 years of neglect, Pope’s Grotto Trust has recently completed a 3-year conservation project of Pope’s Grotto. The Trust now opens the Grotto to the public on more than 30 days a year with visitors admitted by pre-purchased ticket only. As a result of publicity over the last two years, demand for their Open Days exceeds supply to the extent that they are usually sold out within days, sometimes minutes, of tickets becoming available.
Therefore, rather than to act as a marketing aid, the Trust wished to redevelop the website to be portal for information about the Grotto, visiting and about Pope himself. It was also to act as the primary source of references to the ticketing site on TicketSource, a means of contacting the Trust, background information about Pope and his Grotto and, in the future, act as an online shop.
We designed a clean, elegant site that reflects the historic character of the Grotto while feeling modern and accessible
Key objectives were achieved in the following ways:
• A welcoming homepage featuring imagery of the Grotto, clear visitor information, and calls to action.
• Structured navigation so visitors can easily find “Visit,” “Events,” “Shop,” “Support Us,” and “Virtual Arcadia.” etc.
• Improved presentation for videos — larger, optional pop-up viewing, or gallery display.
• Accessible colour contrasts, readable typography, and responsive layouts.
• A simple, secure online shop using WooCommerce.
• Integration of the existing TicketSource setup using the official WordPress plugin.
• To fulfil the client brief requesting a very simple CMS we configured a visual editing interface (using a Page Builder) to allow straightforward content updates.
