Purpose | Public access to historical landmarks |
---|---|
Headquarters | 20 Grosvenor Gardens, London SW1W 0DH |
Region | England (except London) |
Website | heritageopendays |
Heritage Open Days (also known as HODs) is an annual celebration of England's history and culture [1] that allows visitors free access to heritage sites and community events that are either not usually open to the public, would normally charge an entrance fee, or that are putting on something special for the festival. It also includes tours, events and activities related to history, nature and culture.
Heritage Open Days is England's largest festival of history and culture, bringing together over 2,500 organisations, 5,000 events and 40,000 volunteers. Heritage Open Days 2018 ran from 6-9 and 13–16 September. [2]
Heritage Open Days were established in 1994 as England's contribution to European Heritage Days, in which 49 countries now participate. [3] [4]
Organised by volunteers (often property owners or managers), Heritage Open Days is one of England's biggest voluntary cultural events, attracting some 800,000 people every year. Until April 2009 the Civic Trust gave central co-ordination and a national voice to the event.
Heritage Open Days does not cover all of the United Kingdom as it only operates across England, there are four other European Heritage Days events in the UK that take place in September, in Wales there is Open Doors, [5] in Scotland there is, Doors Open Days, and in NI there is European Heritage Days, [6] additionally in London there is architecture festival, Open House London, which tis also a part of the Europe-wide initiative.
The 2018 festival took place across two weekends in September 2018 for the first time. [7]
In 2018, Heritage Open Days celebrated 'Extraordinary Women', in order to profile underrepresented women, through non-zero one's put her forward initiative. [8] The project is funded by People's Postcode Lottery. [9]
Heritage Open Days has grown significantly since its inception. Each year, over 5,000 events are held, with participation from a wide range of heritage organizations, individuals, and communities. The festival has played a vital role in raising awareness about the importance of preserving England’s historic environment and fostering a sense of national pride.
Heritage Open Days is part of the broader European Heritage Days programme, which involves over 50 countries. Other UK nations have similar initiatives, including Scotland’s Doors Open Days and Wales’s Open Doors.
Caernarfon is a royal town, community and port in Gwynedd, Wales. It has a population of 9,852. It lies along the A487 road, on the eastern shore of the Menai Strait, opposite the island of Anglesey. The city of Bangor is 8.6 miles (13.8 km) to the north-east, while Snowdonia (Eryri) fringes Caernarfon to the east and south-east.
English Heritage is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts, and country houses.
In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change.
Cadw is the historic environment service of the Welsh Government and part of the Tourism and Culture group. Cadw works to protect the historic buildings and structures, the landscapes and heritage sites of Wales, to make them available for the public to visit, enjoy, and understand their significance. Cadw manages 127 state-owned properties and sites. It arranges events at its managed properties, provides lectures and teaching sessions, offers heritage walks, and hosts an online shop. Members of the public can become members of Cadw to gain membership privileges.
Hay-on-Wye, or simply Hay, is a market town and community in Powys, Wales, in the historic county of Brecknockshire. With over twenty bookshops, it is often described as a "town of books"; it is both the National Book Town of Wales and the site of the annual Hay Festival. The community had a population of 1,675 at the 2021 census.
Moseley is a suburb of south Birmingham, England, three miles south of the city centre.
In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, Cadw in Wales, and the Historic Environment Division of the Department for Communities in Northern Ireland. The classification schemes differ between England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. The term has also been used in the Republic of Ireland, where buildings are protected under the Planning and Development Act 2000, although the statutory term in Ireland is "protected structure".
BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir is a Hindu temple in Neasden, London, England. Built entirely using traditional methods and materials, the Swaminarayan mandir has been described as being Britain's first authentic Hindu temple. It was also Europe's first traditional Hindu stone temple, as distinct from converted secular buildings. It is a part of the Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) organisation and was inaugurated in 1995 by Pramukh Swami Maharaj. The temple complex also consists of a permanent exhibition entitled "Understanding Hinduism" and a cultural centre housing an assembly hall, gymnasium, bookshop, and offices.
Llandudno is a seaside resort, town and community in Conwy County Borough, Wales, located on the Creuddyn peninsula, which protrudes into the Irish Sea. In the 2021 UK census, the community – which includes Gogarth, Penrhyn Bay, Craigside, Glanwydden, Penrhynside, and Bryn Pydew – had a population of 19,700. The town's name means "Church of Saint Tudno".
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It holds the responsibility for culture and sport in England, and some aspects of the media throughout the UK, such as broadcasting. Its main offices are at 100 Parliament Street, occupying part of the building known as Government Offices Great George Street.
LGBT History Month is an annual month-long observance of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender history, and the history of the gay rights and related civil rights movements. It was founded in 1994 by Missouri high-school history teacher Rodney Wilson. LGBT History Month provides role models, builds community, and represents a civil rights statement about the contributions of the LGBTQ+ community. As of 2022, LGBT History Month is a month-long celebration that is specific to Australia, Canada, Cuba, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Beechwood Park is a thirty-acre public park situated in the eastern Beechwood area of the city of Newport, South Wales. The park is listed on the Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales.
European Heritage Days (EHD) is a joint action of the Council of Europe and the European Commission involving all 50 signatory states of the European Cultural Convention under the motto, Europe: a common heritage. The annual programme offers opportunities to visit buildings, monuments and sites, many of which are not normally accessible to the public. It aims to widen access and foster care for architectural and environmental heritage. These events are also known as Doors Open Days and Open Doors Days in English-speaking countries.
Doors Open Days provide free access to buildings not normally open to the public. The first Doors Open Day took place in France in 1984, and the concept has spread to other places in Europe, North America, Australia and elsewhere.
Sir William Goscombe John was a prolific Welsh sculptor known for his many public memorials. As a sculptor, John developed a distinctive style of his own while respecting classical traditions and forms of sculpture. He gained national attention with statues of eminent Victorians in London and Cardiff and subsequently, after both the Second Boer War and World War I, created a large number of war memorials. These included the two large group works, The Response 1914 in Newcastle upon Tyne and the Port Sunlight War Memorial which are considered the finest sculptural ensembles on any British monument. Although as a young man he adopted the first name Goscombe, taken from the name of a village in Gloucestershire near his mother's home, he was actively engaged with his native Wales and Welsh culture throughout his career.
Historic England is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked with protecting the historic environment of England by preserving and listing historic buildings, scheduling ancient monuments, registering historic parks and gardens, advising central and local government, and promoting the public's enjoyment of, and advancing their knowledge of, ancient monuments and historic buildings.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Wales:
The Civic Trust for Wales was founded in 1964. It is a registered charity.
The archaeology of Wales is the study of human occupation within the country of Wales which has been occupied by modern humans since 225,000 BCE, with continuous occupation from 9,000 BCE. Analysis of the sites, artefacts and other archaeological data within Wales details its complex social landscape and evolution from Prehistoric times to the Industrial period. This study is undertaken by academic institutions, consultancies, charities as well as government organisations.