Tavistock Heritage Open Days
Friday 7th - Sunday 9th, Friday 14th - Sunday 16th September
Tavistock Heritage Open Days
Tavistock celebrates its biggest ever Heritage Open Days with a varied and entertaining programme offering people of all ages the opportunity to take part in visits to historic sites and buildings, guided walks, concerts, lectures and family events. One of the highlights of this year’s programme is a guided tour of the gardens at Hotel Endsleigh with the head gardener, as part of the national celebrations for the bicentenary of the great garden designer, Humphrey Repton, who designed Endsleigh for the Duke of Bedford. The choir, Canticorum, will be singing in the Roman Catholic Church and as part of the 700-year anniversary of St Eustachius’ there will be guided tours and a lecture about Tavistock Abbey by Andrew Thompson. While the Guildhall will be open for guided tours of the building and the cells before it closes for refurbishment as the town’s new Heritage Interpretation Centre.
For children of all ages a Medieval Fayre organised by the Edge offers lots of fun activities including learning medieval dance, hobby horse jousting, tapestry making and a treasure hunt/quiz. Families can collect a Heritage Passport from the museum and follow a trail based on Dartmoor letterboxing, with historical clues and attractive stamps to collect around the town. New guided walks include a rare opportunity to visit Wheal Friendship mine and a Sunday stroll across Whitchurch Down with local guide Simon Dell. Mount Kelly students lead school tours and an archaeologist explores Tavistock’s prehistoric settlement site at the Trendle.
All events are free as part of the national Heritage Open Days, the country’s largest festival of history and culture, which is coordinated by the National Trust and sponsored by players of the Postcode Lottery. Tavistock HODs is organised by a steering group representing leading heritage, cultural, religious and business groups in the town. For the full programme and how to book visit www.tavistockheritageopendays.org and for information on the Guildhall openings visit www.heritageintavistock.org.