92 free openings across the district from 11 to 20 September, 28 of them in Beverley. Goole's Victorian magistrates' court takes bookings from 1 September.

England’s largest free festival of history reaches the East Riding from Friday 11 to Sunday 20 September, and this year the district’s listings run to 92 separate openings, walks, tours and talks. Entry to all of them is free.

We counted the festival’s own East Riding of Yorkshire area list on 27 August. It carried 118 entries, but 26 of those are inside Hull, so the figure for this district is 92. (Heritage Open Days, East Riding of Yorkshire area list)

Beverley has 28 of them, more than any other town, and several are buildings that are shut to the public for the rest of the year.

Where the openings are

Heritage Open Days 2026 listings by East Riding town A bar chart of the 92 East Riding entries. Beverley has 28, Bridlington 16, Hedon 11, Cottingham 8, Goole 7, Swanland 3, Driffield 2, Hornsea 2, and Market Weighton, Howden and Pocklington one each. Twelve more are in villages including Ellerton, Flamborough, Rudston, Snaith, Stamford Bridge and Spurn. Beverley has almost twice as many openings as anywhere else Number of Heritage Open Days 2026 entries by the town in the listed address. Source: Heritage Open Days area list, counted 27 August 2026. Beverley 28 Bridlington 16 Hedon 11 Cottingham 8 Goole 7 Swanland 3 Driffield 2 Hornsea 2 Market Weighton, Howden, Pocklington 1 each Villages and Spurn 12 The festival's own area list also carries 26 entries inside Hull, which are not counted here. Graphic by East Riding Today

Book these, and book them soon

Most of it needs no arrangement at all. Seventy of the 92 say pre-booking is not required, so you turn up. But 18 require booking, three prefer it, and one takes names on the day, and the ones with a small capacity go first.

The clearest example is a tour of Goole’s Victorian magistrates’ court, new to the festival this year and run with Humberside Police. The court and the police station attached to it were purpose built in 1887 and 1888, the courtroom keeps its original fixtures and fittings, and the building was listed at Grade II in 2014. Tours run at 10am, 1pm and 2.30pm on Saturday 12 September, with a further set on 8 September at the same times. Booking opens on 1 September and closes on 9 September, and the cap is 20 people. (Heritage Open Days, Goole magistrates’ court)

Butt Farm battery at Beverley also books, and it runs across five days. It is a surviving Second World War defensive battery built to guard the Humber, and the tours take about 90 minutes: 10am and 1pm on Saturday 12, Sunday 13 and Saturday 19 September, and 3pm and 5.30pm on Wednesday 16 and Friday 18 September. (Heritage Open Days, Butt Farm battery)

The Beverley buildings you cannot normally get into

  • Beverley Friary, Friars Lane, open 11am to 4pm on Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 September, no booking. The Dominican friary was founded in 1233 and its 16th and 17th century wall paintings are, in the organisers’ words, rarely on view. Access is from Eastgate, opposite the Minster, not from Friars Lane. (listing)
  • Beverley Guildhall and Community Museum, Register Square, open 10am to 4pm on Friday 11, Saturday 12, Wednesday 16 and Friday 18 September, no booking. This year’s exhibition is “Subterranean Beverley”, and a medieval carpenter demonstrates on the 11th and the 18th. The upper floor is not wheelchair accessible, but there is an interactive computer tour of the upstairs rooms. (listing)
  • Beverley Minster runs two specialist tours rather than a general one: the 18th century restoration at 1.39pm on Friday 11 and 12.30pm on Saturday 12 September, and the work of the Friends of the Minster at 1.30pm on Friday 18 and 11am on Saturday 19 September. (listing)
  • Also on the Beverley list: the Masonic Hall on Trinity Lane, which is not normally open to the public, Norwood House, Beverley High School, the East Riding Theatre, the bell tower and priest’s room at St Mary’s, the anti mill on the Westwood at Beverley and East Riding Golf Club, and a “Lost Pubs of Beverley” walk on Sunday 13 September.

Beyond Beverley

Hedon punches far above its size with 11 entries, including the town hall, the museum, St Augustine’s church tours and five separate guided walks around the town. Bridlington has 16, among them the harbour heritage museum, the Bayle Museum, the railway station on Saturday 12 September, and a talk on 17 September at the preserved chemist’s shop on the High Street, about a death among its staff. Cottingham puts seven of its eight on Saturday 12 September: the civic hall, the Methodist church, Zion United Reformed Church, St Mary’s, the former urban district council offices, Southwood Hall gardens and a walk round the village. The eighth, Thwaite Gardens, runs on several dates.

Further out there is Bettison’s Folly at Hornsea, Ellerton Priory, the Rudston monolith, Snaith church, the Stamford Bridge Tapestry, a Spurn heritage walking tour and, at Whitgift, a tour and exhibition at St Mary Magdalene.

What it means for you

  • The festival runs 11 to 20 September and everything in it is free. That is the organisers’ rule, not a local offer. (Heritage Open Days)
  • Saturday 12 September is the busiest single day. Of the 50 East Riding entries pinned to one date, 16 fall on it. Another 42 run on several dates, so a Saturday clash is often avoidable if you check.
  • Check the timings on the listing, not the day. Several openings are afternoon only, and some, like the Minster tours, are a single start time.
  • Book the capped ones now. Goole’s court booking window is 1 to 9 September and holds 20 people.
  • Entries change. The organisers ask visitors to re-check a listing before setting off, and some events were still being added when we counted.

Coming to Beverley for it? Our parking in Beverley page has the car parks and charging hours, and the East Riding roadworks and travel page has what is shut that fortnight.

Sources

More local information: things to do in East Yorkshire, parking in Beverley and East Riding roadworks and travel.