VISITORS looking round York’s Mansion House after its restoration has been completed are set to be given an audio tour guide, accompanied by pictures, to enhance their visit.

The guide, which is being developed by audio visual company Acoustiguide, is currently being trialled via a phone app, according to a Mansion House newsletter.

It says plans are also afoot for filming with author, TV and radio presenter Annie Gray, whose book The Greedy Queen: Eating with Victoria, is due out in May.

She is set to be filmed preparing some of the recipes which would have been eaten in the Mansion House in the 18th century. The film will form part of new 18th century kitchen interactive displays.

The newsletter says the developments are all part of plans to exhibit and interpret the Mansion House collections through innovative and creative methods, intended to help visitors understand the building in its historical and cultural context.

Specialist mount makers and case suppliers are said to be drawing up detailed specifications to present the gold and silver collection as if it is in use, rather than as a set of static objects.

A series of six films are also planned to highlight key objects in the silver galleries, as well as further films about the areas surrounding the house.

The mace and state swords will also be photographed to provide large digital close-up images of the decoration that is often hard to see with the naked eye.

Meanwhile, X-rays carried out at a vet’s surgery on a mummified cat discovered under floorboards on the building’s third floor during restoration work last year have failed to solve the mystery of the animal’s death. The cat was handed over to York Archaeological Trust and then made a special trip to a veterinary surgery in Fulford Road to be X-rayed which revealed it was a young animal, aged at least one but no older than six. There was no obvious cause of death.