West Northamptonshire’s free Heritage Open Days reveal hidden sites

demoduck.co.uk editorial team 2026-08-27 12:32 Updated: 15:18 3 min read

Vintage green car driving on a track during a UK heritage event.

Behind-the-scenes rooms at Phipps Brewery, Northampton’s boot and shoe quarter and the engineering collection at the Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation are among the places opening to visitors this September.

Heritage Open Days 2026 runs at locations across West Northamptonshire from 11 to 20 September. More than 60 attractions and organisations have registered free walks, talks, exhibitions, guided tours and open days for residents and visitors of all ages. West Northamptonshire Council directs visitors to the Heritage Open Days and Discover Northamptonshire websites for individual listings; its announcement does not state a single booking rule for the festival.

Organised nationally by the National Trust, Heritage Open Days is described by the council as England’s largest festival of history and culture. This year’s programme concentrates on the everyday lives and achievements of working people, using local industries, buildings and personal stories to explore how communities developed.

Ten days of events across West Northamptonshire

The programme spreads activity across Northampton, Daventry, Towcester, Brackley and other parts of the area rather than concentrating it at one festival venue. Participating locations include Delapré Abbey, Lamport Hall, Old Black Lion, Sulgrave Manor, 78 Derngate, the Guildhall, Weedon Depot and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

Towcester Museum, Phipps Brewery and other local organisations have also registered events. Visitors can use the programme to combine established heritage attractions with buildings and collections that are less regularly accessible.

West Northamptonshire’s free Heritage Open Days reveal hidden sites

Cllr Kamala Guliyeva, West Northamptonshire Council’s Cabinet Member for Local Economy, Culture and Leisure, said the festival would allow people to revisit familiar landmarks or discover somewhere new while examining the people who shaped local communities.

Shoe factories, engineering and working lives

Northamptonshire’s shoe industry has a prominent place in the programme. Heritage bus tours are being supported with £4,500 from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, while Auda Tours will provide free audio tours of Northampton’s historic boot and shoe quarter. Additional shoe heritage walks are also planned.

A new Amazing Northampton Walk will take participants through the town centre using the technology associated with the Amazing Northampton Run. In Duston, an exhibition will examine the history of British Timken and connect the factory’s story with the festival theme of working lives.

Phipps Brewery will run behind-the-scenes tours at its historic Northampton site. Further events include an examination of Anglo-German relations through Middleton Cheney’s local history and an open day at the Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation in Towcester, focusing on the British engineer’s legacy.

Towcester Library will host an exhibition about Ashby Cars, while the NN Arts Collective will offer open access to its base in the former county council building on Guildhall Road. Brackley’s activities include a guided 1760 pub crawl through the town’s historic hostelries.

The wider programme also features Rushton Triangular Lodge, the 16th-century folly built by Sir Thomas Tresham, alongside the many talks, exhibitions and guided visits registered for the festival.

How to plan a free heritage visit

All registered activities are listed on the Heritage Open Days and Discover Northamptonshire websites. The council announcement does not provide one venue address, festival-wide opening times, accessibility information or details of which individual activities require advance booking, so visitors should check the listing for each selected event before travelling.

Free heritage bus services will operate from Northampton and Daventry during the festival, helping visitors reach participating attractions across the area. Routes and individual event arrangements should be confirmed through the published festival listings when choosing a date between 11 and 20 September.

Source: West Northamptonshire Council

Context & actions About this article

Source check Source trail

Event dates, cost, participating attractions and transport details were checked against West Northamptonshire Council’s announcement.

Checks

Confirmed that the festival runs from 11 to 20 September 2026.
Confirmed that more than 60 attractions and organisations have registered events.
Confirmed that admission to the listed festival activities is free.
Confirmed that free heritage buses will operate from Northampton and Daventry.

West Northamptonshire Council Check wider coverage