The Path to the Pier: A Walk Through History

The pier walk is one of many unique traditions at the Scottish University of St Andrews. On Sundays in term-time students wear their gowns and walk from St Salvator’s Chapel down to the pier. This historical tour tells the story of sites along the route – a tale of learning, faith, war, and trade. Drawing on digital reconstructions and aerial footage by the University of St Andrews’ Open Virtual Worlds team (and their spin-out company Smart History), and historic photographs and paintings from the university library’s special collections and museums services, it explores the past and present townscape of St Andrews. The tour was specially created for the University of St Andrews’ alumni weekend in April 2021. Video editing: Sarah Kennedy (Open Virtual Worlds) Voices: Dr Bess Rhodes (Open Virtual Worlds), Professor Michael Brown (Institute for Scottish Historical Research), Dr Alan Miller (Open Virtual Worlds) You can find out more about the Open Virtual Worlds team’s work at: openvirtualworlds.org/ Digitized photographs from the University of St Andrews Library’s Special Collections can be viewed at: st-andrews.ac.uk/library/special-collections/photographs/ The collections of the Museums of the University of St Andrews can be explored at: st-andrews.ac.uk/museums/