Heritage Open Days

Get ready for Lincolnshire’s largest heritage festival starting this Friday!

Heritage Open Days is an annual national festival that takes place every September dedicated to the celebration of heritage and culture! Heritage Open Days offers visitors the chance to explore some fantastic hidden gems and try new experiences.

Each year venues across Lincolnshire take part in this great festival to showcase what this wonderful county has to offer. Each year a theme is selected for venues to join in with. Although they do not have to is they wish. This year’s theme is Inside Out: Lincolnshire’s Landscape of Industry, Design and Innovation. The theme this year encourages the celebration of all things that have shaped Lincolnshire’s landscape. This includes inventions, designs, art, architecture and industry, all of which have left a mark on the Lincolnshire we see and love today.

Here’s what coming up in Gainsborough during the festival:

The Great Gainsborough Treasure Hunt

Friday 9 to Saturday 10 September and Tuesday 13 to Saturday 17 September

Trails can be collected from Gainsborough Library on Cobden Street, DN21 2NG

Library open 9am to 5pm, except on Saturdays when it is open 9am to 1pm.

A treasure hunt for a casket of gold intended for Bonnie Prince Charlie which was discovered on a ship at Gainsborough’s port in 1745. It was confiscated then disappeared. Follow the clues, decode the answers to find the treasure and a reward!

The Mayflower Journey

Thursday 15 September, 10am to 16pm

Gainsborough United Reformed Church, Church Street, DN21 2JR

Come discover our special display dedicated to the history of participants on the journey of the Mayflower Pilgrims. With history displays and a timeline of events, it is a colourful and detailed description of the people and the journey they undertook. Visitors can be sure of a warm welcome with refreshments available.

To ensure a safe flow, visitors may be asked to wait if the room is very busy. 

For other great places to visit in Gainsborough, head over to our visit page. Gainsborough Heritage Centre offers a fascinating insight to the town’s history and Gainsborough Old Hall is thought to be one of the best-preserved manor houses in England!

Just a short drive out of Gainsborough you can also visit the Broadcast Engineering Museum at Hemswell Cliff! It’s not open to the public at present as they are busy restoring the former Sergeants’ Mess that will house their impressive collection.

Restoring TV’s Past for the Future

Saturday 17 & Sunday 18 September, 11am to 4pm

41 Capper Avenue, Hemswell Cliff, DN21 5XS

Come aboard a working 1960s vintage outside broadcasting truck, operate the cameras and see vintage video equipment that will eventually form part of our Broadcast Engineering Museum. Learn about our plans for this unique museum in a former Sergeants’ Mess.

Please park in the antiques centre parade ground car park, DN21 5TJ. Access is via Gibson Road. What3Words ///strict.stopwatch.sedated. Disabled parking is available adjacent to our building. 

For more information visit https://becg.org.uk/.

To find out what’s happening across the whole of Lincolnshire head over to Heritage Lincolnshire’s website. Don’t forget to share your pictures with us on your days out and use #DiscoverGainsborough.

To keep up to date with the latest news and what’s on, follow @Discovergains on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.