Celebrate England’s local history, architecture and culture by going behind the scenes of some well-known places, discovering some of the fascinating buildings that are hidden away, closed to the public, open for the first time, or usually where you have to pay – for free.

Heritage Open Days is a nationwide event, with around 200 locations to visit in Dorset, Somerset and Bristol alone, running from Fri 6 to Sun 15 Sept, in conjunction with Dorset Architectural Heritage Week.

Just type in your postcode on the Heritage Open Days site to see what’s open near you. Places can be limited and they do book up very fast, so if somewhere takes your fancy, snap it up now!

Here’s a taster.

Bournemouth Pavilion, Fri 6 & Sat 7 Sept

Bournemouth Pavilion Heritage Open Days Dorset

It’s curtains up for a guided behind the scenes tour around the Grade II listed theatre, ballroom and stage, which includes original stage equipment from the 1930s, when the likes of Hollywood actor Robert Donat and entertainer Billy Cotton were treading the boards. 10am & 2pm. Book here.

Bournemouth Pavilion, Quay Road, Bournemouth, Dorset, BH1 2BU

Strongroom at Bristol Archives, Sat 7 Sept

Home to millions of documents made by and about the people of Bristol over hundreds of years, from 12th century parchment documents to 21st century digital records. Find out more when the Archives open their strongrooms for one day only. 10am–3.30pm. No need to book.

Bristol Archives, B Bond Warehouse, Smeaton Road, Bristol BS1 6XN

Dunshay Manor, Harman’s Cross, Sat 7 & Sun 8 Sept

Dunshay Manor dorset — Photo courtesy of The Landmark Trust

Newly restored, re-furbed and only open once a year to the public (unless you’re booking it for a holiday via the Landmark Trust), this could be your only chance to visit this beautiful Arts & Crafts house, once lived in by renowned mid-20th-century sculptor Mary Spencer Watson. You’ll see Corfe Castle across the fields, you might hear the Swanage steam train passing by and you can try your hand at life drawing workshop in the former art studio, Sat 7, 11am–2pm. 10am–4pm. Book here.

Dunshay Manor, Haycrafts Lane, Harman’s Cross, Dorset BH19 3EB

Clavell Tower, Kimmeridge Bay, near Wareham, Sat 7 & Sun 8 Sept

It’s a steep climb up to this 19th century four-storey tower, inspiration for PD James’s The Black Tower and where Thomas Hardy took his first love (aww!), but well worth it for the specular views over Kimmeridge Bay and the Dorset countryside as well as its quirky interiors. Usually the only way you’d get through the door, is by booking a holiday with the Landmark Trust, so take advantage while you can. 10am–4pm. Book here.

Kimmeridge Bay, Wareham, Dorset BH20 5PE

Dawe’s Victorian Twineworks, West Coker, near Yeovil, Sun 8 & Sun 15 Sept

The only surviving Victorian twine (a twisted cord made from hemp or jute) works in the UK. Incredibly, all the the original machinery is in working order, including a 100 yard ‘Walk’ on two floors with twisting and treatment machinery driven by a 1927 Shanks engine. Tea, coffee and cake. 10am–4pm. No need to book.

Dawe’s Twineworks, 94A High Street, West Coker, Yeovil, Somerset BA22 9AU

Bristol Beacon, Mon 9 & Tues 10 Sept

See what they spent all that money on with a guided tour all around the splendiferous venue. Originally built in 1865, it was reborn in 2023 to huge acclaim for the acoustic and architectural renovations. 11am–12pm. Booking opens Fri 16 Aug here.

Bristol Beacon, Trenchard St, Bristol BS1 5AR

Montacute House, Montacute, Mon 9 – Fri 13 Sept

A ‘prodigy house’ designed to impress (and it does), the magnificent Elizabethan house with formal gardens and parkland was built out of local golden hamstone for Sir Edward Phelips (a prosecutor of Guy Fawkes) in the 17th century. 10am–5pm; tour: 11am. No booking required.

Montacute House, The Stables, Montacute, Somerset TA15 6XP

Organ talk & tour at Bath Abbey, Tues 10 & Sat 14 Sept

The organ at Bath Abbey has 4000 pipes, 4 manuals and pedals and 62 stops. Come for organ demos, recitals and a special tour of the organ loft, sitting over 9 metres above the Abbey floor. Book on the day, in person at the Abbey.

Bath Abbey, 9 Kingston Buildings, Bath, Somerset BA1 1LT

Belmont, Lyme Regis, Sat 14 & Sun 15 Sept

Author John Fowles (The French Lieutenant’s Woman, set in Lyme Regis) and super successful Georgian craftswoman Eleanor Coade, who created the Coade stone used to make neoclassical statues seen at Buckingham Palace and on Westminster Bridge, both lived in this beautifully restored Grade II* 18th-century villa (now a Landmark Trust holiday let). You can sit in Fowles’ former writing room, take a walk – or have a picnic – in the (mostly wild) garden with a Victorian observatory tower complete with hatch and revolving roof. 10am–4pm. Book here.

Belmont, Pound Street, Lyme Regis, Dorset DT7 3HZ

Nuclear Bunker, Nothe Fort, Weymouth, Sun 15 Sept

radioactive nuclear symbol — Photo Sly for PIxabay

Here’s a cheery way to spend a Sunday: a nose around the Victorian Nothe Fort’s little known nuclear bunker. The accommodation, control and operations rooms for local council employees who would be responsible for organising life after a nuclear attack, was put in place around 1983 as as part of the UK’s defence preparations for nuclear war. Eeek. 11am & 12.30pm. Booking opens Mon 2 Sept: info@nothefort.org.uk

Barrack Road, Weymouth, Dorset DT4 8U

Heritage Open Days: visit Somerset, Dorset & Bristol’s historical and cultural gems – for free

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