Stoke-on-Trent's Civic Society

Heritage Open Days 2024

Heritage Network Logo

Every year in September, places across the country throw open their doors to celebrate their heritage, community and history. It’s your chance to see hidden places and try out new experiences – and it’s all FREE. This year Heritage Open Days returns with a 10-day festival taking place from Friday 6th to Sunday 15th September. You can have free access to events and properties that are usually closed to the public or normally charge for admission or choose one of the many events that place especially for the festival.

Colour Key

Here in Stoke-on-Trent, there will be the the usual chance to discover fantastic architecture and enjoy a wide range of events and activities that bring local history and culture to life. This year the national theme is ‘Routes - Networks - Connections’, providing an opportunity to highlight our role in shaping the transport routes of the industrial revolution, the networks that have brought our city together and our connections with the rest of the world! As ever, we will also be focussing on our unique industrial heritage with events that feature our iconic bottle ovens.

The programme is co-ordinated nationally, by the National Trust and with support from players of the People's Postcard Lottery, and locally by The Heritage Network for Stoke-on-Trent, bringing together local hosts and heritage enthusiasts.

As events are still being developed, this page will be a work in progress until registration closes on 8th August. See our "At a Glance" guide below.

Colours indicate general location: Pink=Tunstall; Orange=Burslem; Yellow=Hanley & Etruria; Green=Stoke & Hartshill; Blue=Fenton; Purple=Longton & Trentham; Grey=our friends just outside the city.

Themes: R=Routes|Networks|Connections B=Bottle Ovens P=Pre-booking required

The Festival - At a Glance

Click on the event titles for more information and booking. Clicking on the HODs logo on the bottom right of the event pages takes you further information and maps on the HODs site.

Fri 6 Sep	Salt, Pepper & Vinegar Bottle Ovens 1300-1600 B		Exploring Stoke's Waterways 1400 B R P		Trentham Hall and Gardens Film Show 1930-2100
Sat 7 Sep	Josiah Wedgwood and the Development of the Trent & Mersey Canal 1100-1300 R P	The Dudson Museum 1100-1500 B	Sweet Sounds in Hanley Park 1200-1400	Bethesda Chapel 1200-1500	Under One Roof Presents An Evening With Denise Leigh & Stefan Andrusyschyn 1800 Talk, 1900 Performance P
		Gladstone Pottery Museum 1100-1600 B
	Chatterley Whitfield and Colliery Tours 1000-1600 P	Victorian Potter's Mill in Steam: Stationary Engines 1100-1630 B R	Time Travelling Through Trentham 1100-1600		Our Lady and St Peter's Catholic Church 1100-1700
Sun 8 Sep	Chatterley Whitfield and Colliery Tours 1000-1600 P	Victorian Potter's Mill in Steam: Classic Vehicles 1100-1630 B R	Commonwealth War Graves Tour - Stoke (Hartshill) Cemetery 1400 P	Historic Longton Walk 1400 B P	Our Lady and St Peter's Catholic Church 1100-1700
Mon 9 Sep			Exploring William Baker's Fenton 1400 B P
Tue 10 Sep	Middleport Pottery Archive Open Morning 10:00, 11:15 & 12:00 P		Exploring Stoke's Historic Potbank Sites 1400 B R P
Wed 11 Sep	Moorcroft, A Heritage Art Pottery 1030-1430 B	Unpacking the V&A Wedgwood Collection: Behind-the-scenes 1100 R P	West End Centre 1000-1400		Connecting The Potteries to the World 1900 B R P
Thu 12 Sep	Moorcroft, A Heritage Art Pottery 1030-1430 B	Unpacking the V&A Wedgwood Collection: Behind-the-scenes 1100 R P	Uncovering St Mark's with Mervyn Edwards 1100		Uncovering St Mark's with Mervyn Edwards 1900
Fri 13 Sep	Moorcroft, A Heritage Art Pottery 1030-1430 B	Unpacking the V&A Wedgwood Collection: Behind-the-scenes 1100 R P	Green Historic Fenton 1400 P		The Golden Age of Canals 1430 R
Sat 14 Sep	Stoke Minster 1000-1400	Regent Theatre Open Day 1000-1700	Bethesda Chapel 1200-1500		Spode Museum: Unpacking the Collection 1330 R P
	Chatterley Whitfield and Colliery Tours 1000-1600 P	Pots & People - Walk from Spode Factory to Stoke Minster 1030 and 1200 B R P	St Bartholomew's Church Norton-le-Moors 1200-1600		Blue Room Tour: Connecting Landscapes 1500 R P
Sun 15 Sep	Chatterley Whitfield and Colliery Tours 1000-1600 P	Middlport Pottery Free Heritage Trails 10:00-15:00 B P		Ford Green Hall 1100-1530 P

Heritage Open Days 2024

The Festival - At a Glance

Alternatively, check out:

The HODS Diary

for Stoke-on-Trent

The HODs Events Directory

for Stoke-on-Trent

for the whole of England