Heritage Open Days: This is how you can explore the history of Yorkshire Coast on your doorstep - all for FREE!

Every year the festival brings together thousands of organisations and volunteers across the country to celebrate what makes our towns and villages special.

In Scarborough, Hunmanby, Brompton, and Whitby, venues will throw open their doors to welcome residents and give them the chance to visit hidden places and try new experiences - and it is all free.

From a former prison to stained glass windows and the South Cliff gardens there is something for everyone. Many of this year’s events will explore the theme, Edible England, with opportunities to learn about food production and local specialities.

Sarah Holloway, Programme Manager for Heritage Open Days, said: “Food brings people together and what we eat and drink is at the heart of much of our culture, our history, our communities, and our daily lives.

“We’re all interested in where we live but we don’t necessarily know the stories behind the buildings and spaces we walk past each day. Our event organisers keep finding creative ways to tell these tales and keep them alive.”

Scarborough

• Saving South Cliff Gardens: Join a unique tour of the renovation work to South Cliff Gardens and discover how heritage features will be restored whilst making the gardens more accessible for modern visitors.

Guests are asked to meet at the clock tower on the Esplanade five minutes before the tour start time. Wednesday, September 15 from 10am to 11am and 2pm to 3pm. Booking is required, call 01723 232 464 or email [email protected]

• Dean Road Cemetery Heritage Fair: Visit the chapel and free guided walks around the grounds with more than 20 craft stalls, tombola, cakes and refreshments, children’s activities, plant stall, and pottery demonstration.

The Mayor, Mayoress and Town Crier will be attending. Sunday, September 12 from 11am to 2.30pm with tours at 11.30am and 1pm.

• St John the Baptist Church: Access all areas of the church, except the tower, exploring this 12th Century church and all its features. Friday, 10 and Saturday, September 11 - 2pm to 6pm.

• The Church of St. Martin on-the-Hill: Known as “Scarborough’s Hidden Pre-Raphaelite Gem” The church is decorated with stained glass and artwork by Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co.

Visitors are free to explore the decorations and information displays. Friday, September 10 to Saturday, September 18 from 11am to 4pm. Closed for Sunday service.

• Wild Foraging in South Cliff: Learn wild forging techniques, get recipe inspiration and enjoy hearing the history of wild edibles in the South Cliff Gardens.

Guests are asked to meet at the clock tower on the Esplanade five minutes before the tour start time.

Thursday, September 16 from 10am to 11am and 2pm to 3pm. Booking is required, call 01723 232 464 or email [email protected]

Whitby

• St Mary’s Church, Goathland: The church will open its doors to visitors where there will be a display of the village and the church’s historic material.

Guests can climb the tower and enjoy mouse hunting activities and quizzes. Saturday 11 and Sunday, September 12 from 10am to 4pm.

Brompton

• Brompton Heritage Weekend: Brompton Village Hall is set to host a display featuring the ongoing work on Brompton Castle Hill.

There will be videos of the excavations and a demonstration of 3D scanning and virtual reconstruction of artefacts and for children there will be mini digs or hands-on finds washing.

Saturday 18 and Sunday, September 19 from 10am to 4pm and tours of the dig site at 11am and 2.30pm.

Hunmanby

• Hunmanby Railway Station: Discover more about the first-prize winner of the Community Rail Awards 2020, Hunmanby Railway Station. See historical photographs and the giant North Eastern Railway Tile Map, hand made at the Ironbridge UNESCO World Heritage Site. Saturday, September 11 - 10am to 1pm.

• Community Centre Pop-up Museum: See a display of documents, photographs, plans and maps from Hunmanby parish archive and an oil painting of Hunmanby village centre, dating from c.1840. Saturday, September 11 from 10am to 1pm.

• All Saints’ Church: Explore this Norman church and 17th-century altar rail, hatchments and monument of the Osbaldiston family, who were the 18th Century lords of the manor. Saturday, September 11 from 10am to 1pm.

• Bayley Gardens: A public garden and site of the 19th-century brewery in Hunmanby where guides will explain the history to visitors and a quiz will be available for children. Saturday, September 11 from 10am to 1pm.

• Hunmanby Village Heritage Walk: Discover the heritage of the Hunmanby with a guided walk with village expert George Sheeran.

You must pre-book on the day at Bayley Gardens for the guided walk which will start at 1.30pm on Saturday, September 11.

• Lock-Up and Pinfold: A rare, once a year opportunity to go inside Hunmanby’s tiny early 19th-century red-brick Lock-Up, or temporary prison. Adjacent is a stone-built Pinfold, recently restored, once used to impound stray animals. Saturday, September 11 from 10am to 1pm.

• The White Swan Inn exhibition: See displays about this historic old coaching inn on what was the main route between Hull, Bridlington and Scarborough about its history and the campaign to save the entire building. Saturday, September 11 – all day from 11am.

• Wrangham House and Local History Group Display: Step inside this Grade-II listed Georgian house which was the vicarage for Hunmanby and surrounding villages.

In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the house was occupied by Archdeacon Francis Wrangham, who was a notable literary figure, abolitionist and social reformer. Saturday, September 11 from 10am to 1pm.