(Above) Gothic Temple, Stowe. Landmark Trust
Heritage Open Days, the national weekend of property openings which sees everywhere from castles to country cottages welcome visitors for a weekend of cultural snooping returns again this year, between September 9 and 12 2010.
A million people are expected to take advantage of the four-day event, which explores more than 4,000 properties of every style, period and function, many of which are normally closed to the public.
They include Medieval cottages, timber-framed Tudor buildings, Gothic temples, Georgian townhouses, Victorian factories, Second World War defences, Art Deco cinemas, Modernist masterpieces and 21st century eco-homes.
(Above) Pugin's House, The Grange. © John Miller
Organisers English Heritage are promising the usual mix of mysterious, magnificent and modest properties; all of them revealing their histories and secrets.
"Heritage Open Days is about people and places," says Baroness Andrews, Chair of English Heritage. "It offers a chance to explore those local landmarks which however familiar, are normally closed and therefore mysterious and alluring.
"Not only are the secrets and history laid bare, but it means you can meet the people who live or work in those buildings and who are delighted to share their knowledge and enthusiasm."
(Above) North Lees Hall, Derbyshire. The Vivat Trust
Among the highlights already confirmed for 2010 are the 18th century ironstone Gothic Temple at Stowe in Buckinghamshire, which boasts a circular domed vault and magnificent views over the Stowe Landscape Gardens, and the former home of Augustus Pugin, designer of the House of Commons, who built a residence heavily influenced by the Middle Ages.
Strong themes emerging include houses with literary connections, which include the former home of Jane Austen's brother, at Chawton House in Hampshire, and the Elizabethan North Lees Hall in the Peak District National Park, said to be the inspiration for Charlotte Bronte's description of Mr Rochester's House, Thornfield Hall in Jane Eyre.
In the North of England some great Victorian theatres open their doors for special backstage tours at The Journal Tyne Theatre and The Theatre Royal in Newcastle upon Tyne and Leeds' Grand Theatre and Opera House.
(Above) Wilmington Priory, with ruin
For sports fans, there will be tours of the Victorian Jesmond Dene Real Tennis Club in Newcastle-upon-Tyne (one of the few remaining indoor courts for the precursor to the modern game of tennis); Chester Racecourse, dating back to the early 16th century; Molineux Stadium, home to Wolverhampton Wanderers since 1889; the Georgian-era Cleveland Pools in Bath; and a number of 1930s lidos including Broomhill Pool in Ipswich, Suffolk and Sandford Parks Lido in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.
Full details of Heritage Open Days activities will be available from the website www.heritageopendays.org.uk from mid-July.
