This national event, run nationally by English Heritage and coordinated locally by Hull Civic Society, runs between Thursday 9th – Sunday 12th September and sees buildings of every description opened to the public for free. The event has been run for over 30 years and was previously known as Open House. It continues to feature some of the city’s most iconic buildings such as Holy Trinity Church, Trinity House Chapel, Charterhouse Chapel, Ye Old White Harte and St Charles Borromeo church with recent additions including The Pacific Exchange on High Street, the BBC Building in the city centre and Sutton Methodist Church.
This year, with the support of Hull BID and other organisations, the event has been significantly extended to include a programme of tours, talks and other activities, all designed to showcase the city’s important heritage. As a result, there will be tours of The Guildhall, City Hall, Hull New Theatre, Victoria Dock, The KC Stadium, and talks ranging from the new Pevsner’s Guide to the City’s Architecture to the history of the fishing industry. Activities for children include a treasure hunt on Saturday 11th September, historic face painting in Trinity Square and mega map making at Artlink on Princes Avenue.
"The support we’ve received from Hull BID and other agencies has allowed us to be more ambitious this year and we think that we’ve got heritage activities to satisfy every taste," commented Hull Civic Society’s Philip Haskins. "In the brochure we’ve also tried to make each area of the city centre an attraction in its own right, so people can visit not just the buildings featured but can see other places of interest in the area."
City Centre Manager Kathryn Shillito commented that the city’s heritage was an important way to attract people into the city centre and said that as well as the increased footfall that the event would create, many of the buildings and places featured would see direct benefits:
She said: "Supporting the many businesses and organisations in the city centre which rely on their heritage to promote themselves is an important objective for Hull BID and we are pleased to use the Heritage Open Days as one way of achieving this."
To find out more about Heritage Open Days click here, or to see the brochure for the Open Days in Hull in 2010 click here.
