Wakefield’s Heritage Open Days return from 11 to 20 September, bringing local history to life with free guided tours, talks and visits to historical buildings across the district.
Cllr Lukasz Borcz, the council’s Cabinet Member for Culture and Sport, said the events would “showcase our incredibly rich heritage and celebrate our local culture,” with many partner organisations also throwing open their doors to visitors.
Highlights include a tour around the grounds and ruins of Sandal Castle, spanning 500 years of history, and — for the braver visitor — a tour of the Pontefract Castle dungeon.
Wakefield Museums and Castles Collections offer a behind-the-scenes Museum Store Tour led by experts from the collections team, while storyteller Beccy Dye hosts an interactive session at Pontefract Castle for the whole family. There’s also a talk on The Dispensary and Hermitage, a digital interpretation project exploring the 14th-century hermitage beneath Pontefract’s dispensary, using virtual reality and immersive technology.
Digital edition launch
Wakefield Libraries are launching a freely accessible digital edition of the George Fox manuscripts — a handwritten and illustrated 19th-century account of Pontefract’s history — with a launch event at Pontefract Library on Saturday 12 September to view the rarely seen originals.
Elsewhere, visitors can explore The Art House’s 119-year-old former Carnegie Library, learn about environmentalist and explorer Charles Waterton at Waterton’s Wall and Parkland, or climb Wakefield Cathedral’s tower for a new view of the city.
Castleford Civic Society’s newly appointed town criers will be on hand, including a talk from Town Crier Barbara, and Pontefract’s Elizabeth Love Museum opens a brand-new exhibition, The Hidden Lives of Elizabeth & Joe Love, on Wednesday 16 September, showcasing the couple’s collection of antiques, Castleford Pottery and 25 long case clocks.
Further highlights include a talk on the Rosse Telescope from West Yorkshire Astronomical Society followed by a look around the observatory, a behind-the-scenes tour of West Yorkshire History Centre’s more than eight miles of archives, and open days at Wakefield Theatre Royal, including an exhibition and family activities.
All events are free to attend; timings and advance bookings are available at experiencewakefield.co.uk.
