Heritage Open Days is England’s largest festival of history and culture. It runs every September and offers free access to heritage events and activities across the country.
Heritage Open Days (HODs) returns this September, from 6th to the 15th September, for its 30th year. With more than 100,000 events and over 39 million visits across 30 years, growing from just 700 events in the first year to over 5,250 in 2023, there'll be thousands of free in-person events and experiences for you and the whole family to experience. Around one-third of visitors had not visited a heritage site/event in the past year, while 80% of festival-goers said their visit made them more proud of their local area.
Brought to you by the National Trust, supported by players of People’s Postcode Lottery and run by thousands of local organisations and local volunteers, HODs help bring people together to celebrate their heritage, community and history. Every single Heritage Open Days event is free, including access to many sites that usually charge for admission.
The packed programme of more than 5,000 events features free entry to all sorts of interesting properties and historic buildings, with organised tours and new experiences to be had at all sorts of hidden places you might not normally have discovered, including historic houses to factories, museums to music halls, formal gardens to graveyards, places, spaces and communities across the country that are once again hosting free events this autumn.
You'll get to soak up the cultural heritage and find out about the fantastic history of where you're visiting, and hear fascinating stories from the local people who give up their time to volunteer to be part of Heritage Open Days. Hundreds of activities will adopt this year’s theme, Routes – Networks - Connections, bringing together the past and present in a festival that includes workshops, talks, hidden spaces, walks and activities for all the family.
Liam Montgomery, Heritage Open Days Marketing & Projects Manager, says: “The scale and diversity of Heritage Open Days is just incredible – every year, thousands of passionate people help visitors to make doorstep discoveries and connect with history and heritage in every part of England. This year though, it will be extra special as we celebrate three decades worth of stories and all the brilliant people and places that have made it, and continue to make it, all possible!”
This year, organisers have once again come up trumps and created a stellar programme of events that put the spotlight on the people and places who give England’s heritage the X-factor and inspire festival-goers to engage with thousands of years of creativity. And it is the organisers who make this possible, and whose hard work enables over a million people to engage with heritage, for free, on their doorstep, every September.”
The festival will again feature thousands of events and activities across the country, including:
Explore the history of Joseph Whitwell through the paths and waterways at Hollybush Conservation Centre with a self-guided tour celebrating his legacy in Yorkshire as the world's largest forced rhubarb producer.
In Gosport, you can try your hand at shipwreck archaeology on the beach! Under guidance from the Nautical Archaeology Society learn how to record a real shipwreck, then use that information to discover the history of the vessel when it was still afloat.
Join the team at Bosworth Battlefield Heritage Centre as they celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Centre! Discover the history of this remarkable site and why they tell the story of two of Britain's most famous Kings.
Go behind the scenes of helicopter emergency medical services at the East Anglian Air Ambulance base and discover how every second counts with this life-saving charity’s work. Learn how to save a life with CPR taster sessions and see the service in action with the hangar, crew's rest facilities and the interactive simulation suite to explore.
Discover a castle that's not a castle, on an island that's not an island. Venture across the causeway to Holy Island and discover the hidden gems of Lindisfarne Castle with a garden designed by Gertrude Jekyll blooming with summer flowers, 19th-century industrial lime kilns, and shoreline walks.
Take a behind-the-scenes tour of the iconic Tyne tunnels, visit the Gothic Temple - a splendid historic folly within the National Trust’s Stowe, and explore that most iconic item of creativity, the television, at the BFI Film & Television Archive.
For a tasty, creative fix, head to a gelato flavour exploration in North Shields.
Have you ever wondered about the creativity behind a brick? Now you can at Hampshire’s The Brickworks Museum. See where the magic happens and meet the talented team who build incredible jukeboxes at Sound Leisure in West Yorkshire.
Some organisations have been involved from the start, such as The Regency Town House in Brighton, Heritage Trust Lincolnshire and Gosport Heritage Open Days. Terry Rhodes, Chair of Gosport Heritage Open Days says: "Gosport is proud to have been a pioneer of this heritage festival, and 30 years on we still provide a really popular and varied program for Heritage Open Days in our small town with a big history. We are thrilled with this year's theme and have many interesting walks, talks, and displays depicting unique local links to historic transport routes, important military networks, and fascinating maritime connections, plus lots more. As always, we try to make our events as accessible as possible for all to enjoy and look forward to welcoming people from near and far for HODs."
A visitor from 2022 said, “Such passionate individuals who were generous enough to share their knowledge. Forever grateful for their time and effort. It allowed me to connect with sections of the society that I do not normally interact with within the specific context.”
And organisers see a real benefit: “I feel that Heritage Open Days is really important, both to provide access to less visited/usually closed places and also to bring about more of a diverse audience than usual, opening up places for people who may usually avoid heritage attractions.”
Liam Montgomery, Heritage Open Days Marketing & Projects Manager says: “The scale and diversity of Heritage Open Days is just incredible – every year thousands of passionate people help visitors to make doorstep discoveries and connect with history and heritage in every part of England. This year, though, it will be extra special as we celebrate three decades' worth of stories and all the brilliant people and places that have made it and continue to make it all possible!”
Heritage Open Days is brought to you by the National Trust with support from players of the People’s Postcode Lottery. Every single Heritage Open Days event is free, including access to many sites that usually charge for admission.
For further details and to register for your event, visit the Heritage Open Days website: www.heritageopendays.org.uk.
Heritage Open Days is England’s contribution to European Heritage Days, taking place across 50 countries. Other events in the UK are Doors Open Days in Scotland (www.doorsopendays.org.uk); Open Doors Days in Wales (www.cadw.wales.gov.uk/opendoors); and European Heritage Open Days in Northern Ireland (www.communities-ni.gov.uk/articles/european-heritage-open-days).