History

Kent

Canterbury

After extensive renovations, we are thrilled to invite you to step back in time and explore the newly restored Eastbridge Hospital. This historic gem, once a haven for travelling pilgrims visiting the Shrine of St Thomas Becket, is ready to welcome visitors once again.

Come and experience the rich history and timeless hospitality of Eastbridge Hospital. Don't miss this unique opportunity to walk through the halls that have witnessed centuries of stories and traditions.

This event has been graded as 'moderate' access due to nativating steep staircases.

Members' Event:

Let your imagination run wild as we construct an amazing adventure playground at Stonehenge with Woodland Tribe. Hammers, saws and nails will be handed over to the children and their adults to build the play structure of their dreams. What will you create?

Playhenge is suitable for ages 4+. Children must be accompanied by an adult (minimum of one accompanying adult per three children).

Due to the nature of the activity, this event may be noisy. Ear defenders will be available to borrow.

Please note that this experience is first come first served, and due to capacity, queues may form. Time within the experience will be restricted, but you are welcome to come back and have multiple build attempts throughout the day.

What people said last year:

“Amazing. One of the best activities our children have ever done.”

“Wonderful project. Amazing. 10/10”

“I feel happy when I come here. I get to build lots of stuff.” 

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Playhenge

Join Will Wyeth for an expert-led guided tour of this magnificent 11th-century medieval castle. Learn all about this fascinating place, from its very beginnings as a Norman fortress to its role in the First World War as a camp and prison.

This event is classed as moderate access as there may be stairs along the route and uneven surfaces throughout.

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Led by head gardener James Taylor, you'll discover the secrets behind our latest projects and see the garden in full bloom. Explore the grounds and see behind the scenes on how the team bring the gardens to life.

This event is graded as moderate access.

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Join one of our volunteer photographers for a guided walk around the Elizabethan gardens at Kenilworth Castle. On this tour you will discover the best places to take splendid photos of the recreated gardens. Initially designed by Robert Dudley for the visit of Queen Elizabeth I in 1575, the garden is bursting with beautiful plants to capture. Light refreshments will be served at the end of this event in the Stable tea rooms.

Don't worry, no specialist equipment needed! Learn how to make the most of your phone or digital camera and discover more about the gardens along the way.

This event is graded as moderate access as it is a walking tour which covers uneven terrain and steps with limited places to stop and rest. Please note, this is an outdoor event which will continue in light rain so please consider the photography equipment you bring with you.

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Chatty Café

First Friday of every month from Friday 4th April - 10am-11.30am.

Join us on the first Friday every month from 10.00-11.30am for a chat and a cuppa. There will always be a volunteer on hand so a chat is guaranteed and there is a free cup of tea as well.

Gainsborough Old Hall has been at the heart of the town’s community for hundreds of years and is the perfect meeting place for locals and visitors alike.

Sometimes the best connections are made over a cup of tea and our Chatty Café days are the perfect way to bring people together.

Memory Café

The first Friday of April and May will be extra special Chatty Café days. We’d love to hear your stories about Gainsborough Old Hall and by sharing them you’ll help us keep history alive for future generations.

Our oral history volunteers will be in the café to hear your memories and share your experience of our wonderful building. Whether it’s how you relatives worked or even lived in the hall or how you attended classes there in the 1980s, were looking to find out more and document memories for future generations.

We’ll have some pictures from the hall’s history in display to help us recollect. Your memories matter and we want to hear them!

Chatty Café At Gainsborough Old Hall

Join us for a behind the scenes tour of Helmsley Archaeology store!

Tours will be held: 

Friday 4th April – 11:30 & 13:30

Friday 2nd May – 11:30 & 13:30

Friday 6th June - 11:30 & 13:30

Friday 4th July - 11:30 & 13:30

Friday 1st August - 11:30 & 13:30

Friday 19th September - 11:30 & 13:30 – Heritage Open day specials

Saturday 20th September – 10:00 & 11:30 – Heritage Open day specials

Friday 3rd October - 11:30 & 13:30

Guided by members of the collections team, these tours will explore how we look after and care for our collections, our current projects and highlight some of our favourite finds from across the North territory.

To book your place, please email the collections team on Helmsley.Stores@english-heritage.org.uk.

Please specify a date and include a list of all attendees in your email. Tours are free but contributions welcomed. Bookings will be made on a first come, first serve basis.

While tours are free, a £5 per person donation is suggested.

Helmsley Archaeology Store Tours

Enjoy a landscape walk, led by our knowledgeable volunteer! Learn more about Marble Hill's historic landscape and changes made through time. Please meet outside front of house at 1pm.

  Free Tour, just come along!

Landscape Walk

Join us for the second edition of our Cactus Fair - with even more stalls from specialist nurseries for some rare succulents!

Cactus Fair

Start the weekend energised with a spot of Community Yoga amongst the backdrop of Marble Hill and it's surroundings! Community based event, meet on the Oval Lawn (Behind House towards River) at 8am.

Community Yoga

Witness expert horsemen in flamboyant 17th century costume, training for art and battle to baroque music in the spectacular surroundings of the Riding School at Bolsover Castle. Behold breath-taking displays of horses in training as they refine the methods created by one of the great equestrian masters, William Cavendish.

Expert in historic horsemanship Dominic Sewell and his Historic Equitation team will reveal more about the famous training techniques of Cavendish and their majestic horses will demonstrate traditional moves and skills of the time. Suitable for all, perfect for those with an appreciation of skilled horsemanship and an interest in the history of riding as an art form. Please note that photography and filming is prohibited during the displays.

Online tickets will be available soon.

Cavendish Horses:

A geophysical survey was undertaken in 2019 within the outer bailey of Pevensey Castle, which located a plethora of new features which illustrate the Medieval arrangement of internal space. Further surveys were undertaken to attempt to get to the original ground surface and locate further structures which were known from small excavations within the castle interior.

This talk and tour will present the results of the past excavations and surveys, as well as providing an insight to the communities who may have inhabited the site. The conclusion will seek to lay out what further work can be done to place the fort and castle within a firmer local, regional, and international context.

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Join us as the Saffron Walden community proudly hosts its a LGBTQIA+ Pride event at the stunning Audley End House & Gardens.

Bring your picnic blankets, your friends and family for an afternoon of love, music, and community in one of the most beautiful settings in Essex.

Enjoy:

Acoustic sets from amazing local LGBTQIA+ artists

Stalls from local friendly businesses

Croquet on the lawn

Food, drinks, and ice-cream available to buy

Picnics welcome – grab a spot with a view of the river, house and grounds

This is a family-friendly event, and allies are warmly welcomed. Let’s come together, show our Pride, and make history. Heritage is for everybody. 

See you there!

The main gates will open at 4pm for the event. Tickets are free but must be pre-booked. The event ends at 8pm.

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Saffron Walden Pride At Audley End

Join Blue Badge Guide Sarah Milne-Day for a tour of the famous resort town of Scarborough. See the most iconic sights and hear the history of the church of Anne Brontë, Scarborough Castle and more.

This event is graded as challenging access, as it involves walking for two hours with few places to stop and rest, as well as steep hills to navigate.

English Heritage in partnership with the National Garden Scheme is delighted to be offering you the chance to experience the beautiful gardens of Belsay Hall in the early evening when the site is closed to the public.

Meet the Head Gardener and members of their team for a tour of the gardens. Get an insight into how the team develop and enhance these wonderful spaces, carefully managed to ensure how they are presented today reflects their rich history.

You will have the opportunity to ask questions of the team as you experience the gardens at this very special event.

Tickets available soon.

Proceeds from the event will go to fund nursing and health charities through the National Garden Scheme, which raises millions of pounds per year for organisations like Macmillan Cancer Support, Marie Curie, and Hospice UK. Find out more, and discover other special garden visits near you, on the National Garden Scheme website.

Exclusive Evening Garden Tour At Belsay Hall

Liverpool's Hope Street was recognised as the UK's Street of the Year in 2012. Join Tour Guide John McFerran for a tour of a street full of eclectic architecture, with a mix of Classical, Georgian, Art Deco and Brutalistic styles. The street (and this tour) begins at Liverpool's Metropolitan Cathedral, affectionately known as 'Paddy's Wigwam'.

This tour is graded as moderate access as it is a walking tour covering up to two hours with few places to stop and sit down.

The tour will take in the fascinating experiments Charles Darwin undertook to test his theory of Evolution by means of Natural Selection, in the beautiful surroundings of his country house garden. People will explore Darwin's ‘Living Landscape Laboratory’, a celebrated and unique fascinating natural environment in which Darwin tested his theories. We will celebrate the biodiversity here, something Victorian society would have taken for granted. The tour will explore specific conservation projects initiated by English Heritage to restore species lost since the Darwins lived at Down. We will include the role Emma Darwin had in developing the gardens including the ornamental borders and Mingled Border and the Walled Garden with its fruits and vegetables which fed the large Darwin family and their staff. In the glasshouse visitors will see a wide range of tropical orchids, climbing plants and carnivorous plant which Darwin used in his botanical research.

Afterwards visitors will have the opportunity to following in Darwin’s footsteps by walking his famous ‘Thinking Path’, and come away with a renewed sense of optimism regarding conservation and the environment.

This tour has been graded as moderate access due to uneven surfaces through the garden and few places to sit down.

Join a member of the gardens team to learn about the recently restored 18th Century gardens at Marble Hill. Learn about the restoration, how the gardens are maintained and what we're doing to promote biodiversity.  Meet outside the house, on the Richmond Road side. No dogs allowed.

  Free Event, no need to book!

Big Green Week:

Join a member of the gardens team to learn about the newly created meadows at Marble Hill. Find out how these meadow were created, how they're being maintained and why they are so important to biodiversity.

Meet outside the house, on the Richmond Road side. No dogs allowed.

English Heritage

English Heritage cares for over 400 historic buildings, monuments and sites - from world-famous prehistoric sites to grand medieval castles, from Roman forts on the edges of the empire to a Cold War bunker. 

Through these, we bring the story of England to life for over 10 million people each year. 

Members' Event:

English Heritage

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