Heritage Open Days

Every year in September places across the country throw open their doors to celebrate their heritage, community and history. People get the chance to see hidden places and try out new experiences – and it’s all FREE.

Now in its 26th year – Heritage Open days is back – only this year things will be a little different…….. Due to Covid-19 some places cannot open and others have restricted access and have to limit visitor numbers so events have moved into the virtual world.

Although organised locally by volunteers from The Heritage Network for Stoke-on-Trent the programme is co-ordinated nationally by the National Trust with support from players of the People’s Postcard Lottery. The aim is to encourage people to visit heritage sites and properties that are usually closed to the public or normally charge for admission by giving free access, or choose one of the many events that take place especially for the festival. They can explore and discover for free the inspiring places, spaces, history and culture that makes our city and country so special!

Unfortunately we won’t be able to match the 33 local events that took place across the City during last year’s Festival, but by a combination of a limited number of sites opening, self guided walks and virtual tours there are more than a dozen events that can tickle the heritage taste buds of our residents. To mark Battle of Britain day, on 15th September people can watch a film re-creation of that fateful day which was a significant turning point of WWII. 

If people want to get out of their armchairs, Walking to Bottle Ovens in Longton is the one for them. People can discover a wealth of different bottle oven types in Longton, using our special guide published for Heritage Open Days. Each bottle oven site will feature a QR code link to further Bottle Oven Facts. A 1 ½-mile walk visiting a total of 20 ovens.

This year the national theme is ‘Hidden Nature’ which we have a considerable amount in North Staffordshire but we have retained our local theme of ‘Bottle Ovens’ and as always the world famous North Staffordshire pottery industry features heavily in our programme but there are also some gems dating from before the industrial revolution.