Welcome to the Industrial Heritage Networks and Support website. This site is maintained and updated by the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust who run the project and the networks. We aim to support industrial heritage in England through networking, information exchange, guidance, and training. Please explore the website and please contribute! For more information you can … Read more Welcome to the IHNs website!
The Heritage Open Days team are offering two new micro-grants to support heritage sites and/or groups for the 2025 Festival. These are for the creation of new events that share stories highlighting under-represented histories, and to encourage people from under-represented backgrounds to participate.
These micro-grants are worth £350 each and come with one-to-one support from the national team. So, if your industrial archaeology or heritage site or group are planning a Heritage Open Day event why not consider widening its appeal with these support grants.
Applications are open to existing organisers who have participated for the last three years in HoDs, and to new organisers from under-represented backgrounds participating in the festival for the first time. The deadline for the micro-gants is Friday 4th April.
Full details and eligibility criteria can be found on the Heriotage open days website here
This year, SPAB’s National Mills Weekend will take place on 10 and 11 May. It will focus on the way that mills past and present have been recorded in pictorial form with the theme ‘Mills in Time’.
The weekend is an annual celebration promoted by the Mills Section of SPAB. Across the country hundreds of mills – including some not normally open to the public – will be taking part.
This year, SPAB are encouraging everyone (owner, volunteer, neighbour, or visitor) to share and display images of participating mills. These can be recent photographs or artworks (including embroideries, collages, films, or videos), or paintings, or drawings, and even old maps, postcards, or posters. To share your images go to the #NationalMillsWeekend Facebook page. Please remember to credit the copyright owner and photographer where known.
SPAB-owned Fladbury Mill and Kibworth Harcourt Post Mill, which aren’t normally open to the public, will also be open for the weekend. To book go to the SPAB website.
The waterwheel at Stretton Watermill, Cheshire. Image copyright Dr Michael Nevell.
The 2024 edition of Heritage Open Days takes place from the 6th to the 15th September. Billed as England’s largest festival of history and culture, thousands of local volunteers and organisations are opening more than 1500 sites for free to the public. This year’s event includes more than 230 industrial heritage sites in England.
More industrial heritage sites than ever before are offering free access to their sites and professional and volunteers expertise, under this year’s theme of ‘routes, networks, and connections’. This includes over 70 transport sites, more than 50 chemical, extractive and metal working sites, over 30 water-powered corn mills, over 30 maritime and utility sites, more than 20 wind mills, and over than 20 textile sites.
Heritage Open Days are a chance for the public to explore England’s rich heritage, and the peopel involved in preserving and presenting it, with over 2,000+ organisers arranging events. To search for an industrial heritage site open during the festival, follow this link: Heritage Open Days.
The Coalbrookdale Museum is one of the sites taking part in 2024. Access is open for free on the 7th & 8th September.
The Essex Industrial Archaeology Group biennial Industrial Heritage Fair will take place on 14th September at the Grange Barn, in Coggeshall, 10am to 4pm. This event is running in partnership with the National Trust and is part of Heritage Open Days 2024.
There will be exhibits by Essex societies and industrial sites covering such industries as: agricultural engineering; public water supply; brick-making; metal windows; company villages. There will also be an exhibition of woodcarving tools used by local master carver Bryan Saunders until his death in 1975. The Saunders Collection is a fascinating goldmine of chisels, hammers, knives, measuring devices and other carving tools.
In addition, there are four short talks on local industries including the cloth trade and metal working, and attendees can take a self-guided tour of industrial sites in Coggeshall, including former maltings & breweries, textile factories, and the isinglass factory. Coggeshall Museum, Abbey Watermill, and the Village Smithy will also be open.
The National Mills Weekend for 2024 will take place on 11 & 12 May 2024. Run once again by SPAB, this year’s theme will be ‘Enjoy Your Mill – Get Involved’. If you own or manage a mill and would like to take part in National Mills Weekend, please submit your details by 1st March using the link to the online form at the bottom of this page.
SPAB will use this information to update their Visit a Mill page on their website. If information is received after the deadline, SPAB cannot guarantee that your entry will be updated in time for National Mills Weekend.
More details of the event will be available on the SPAB website on the National Mills Weekend page in the spring. You will be able to download an information pack and a poster from the website. If you have any questions in the meantime, please email millsinfo@spab.org.uk.
Strutts North Mill, Belper, Derbyshire, which will be open for tours during Heritage Open Days 2022.
It has been confirmed that the 2022 version of Heritage Open Days will run as planned, from the 9th to the 18th of September, despite the Queen’s death on the 8th September. Hundreds of industrial heritage and archaeology sites run by local groups and communities feature on the list of venues open for free to the public.
The theme of ‘Astounding Inventions’ has helped to more than double the number of industrial heritage sites accessible this year, up from 113 in 2021 to 239 in 2022. There were no in-person events in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic. The largest group of industrial sites opening relate to transport, with 70 historic aircraft, canal, railway, and road sites available to explore. This includes small scale sites such as the Union Bridge and Warmley Signal Box, as well as many Heritage Railways and transport museums such as Locomotion, in Durham and the Greater Manchester Transport Museum.
The largest category of industrial sites to open their doors remains wind and watermills, as it was in 2021, with 51 sites. Larger industrial museums with entry charges are also offering free events, from the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust to the National Trust properties such as Quarry Bank Textile Mill. There are also private working or small heritage sites accessible, that are seldom open to the public, such as G H Hurt & Son’s Shawl Factory in Nottingham, The Harveys Brewery in Lewes, Sussex, and the RDF radar tower at Harwich in Essex.
For details of where to find venues and their opening times during Britain’s biggest annual heritage festival follow this link: https://www.heritageopendays.org.uk/
Registration is now open for Heritage Open Days 2022, which this year runs from the 9th to the 18th September. Last year more than 100 industrial archaeology and heritage sites opened their doors for free to the public in England alone.
You can join the largest festival of history and culture in the UK as an organiser by simply submitting your event, thereby putting your local area on the map, enabling you to tell the stories of people, places, and events that really matter to your local area. This year’s theme is Astounding Inventions, which seems tailor-made for industrial sites. Potential organisers can download a resource pack full of inspiring materials and ideas for events and activities.
IHN North West Member, Middlewich Heritage, is organising two open days on 18th & 19th September at the Murgatroyd Brine Pump. As a Scheduled Monument, Murgatroyd’s brine shaft is the last of its kind. Sunk in 1889 using traditional methods – hand dug and timber lined – it is now the only surviving wild brine extraction shaft in Cheshire.
After abandonment in the 1970s and following decades of neglect the brine pump has now been restored with monies from Historic England, the National Heritage Lottery Fund, and the Association for Industrial Archaeology. It will be open to the public for the first time in September, so why not visit the last remnant of salt making in Middlewich.
IHN Cornwall & Devon member SS Freshspring is inviting the public on board for their family open day on Monday 30th August (Bank Holiday Monday) from 11.30am-4pm. The ship, moored along Landivisiau Walk, Bideford quay, will be open to the public for free with a range of children’s activities, entertainment and celebrations to mark the ship’s 75th anniversary. This event is suitable for all ages and there is no charge for entry.
During the day there will be free tours of the ship (learning all about her rich heritage), children’s activities (including rope making and knot tying), as well as a special visit from local children’s author, Anthony Burt, reading his book The Wish Fish which is based upon the Freshspring ship. These interactive reading workshops will last approximately 15 minutes and will take place at 12pm, 2pm and 3.30pm and attendees will receive a free signed copy of the book. Steam engine rides will be running along the quay for both children and adults to enjoy (with a small contribution going towards the charity). There will also be aerial act performances throughout the day.
Local charity, Way of the Wharves, who research and present the history of the wharves and surrounding area of East the Water, Bideford, will also be joining the SS Freshspring to share knowledge of the rich maritime history in North Devon.
Becca Craft, Public Engagement Officer at the Freshspring Trust says, “We are so pleased to be opening over the bank holiday weekend and can’t wait to welcome you on board for our family open day, celebrating our 75th anniversary event. We have lots planned for the day, so please pop along and see us. I always say that we are quite possibly Bideford’s best kept secret and most are unaware of SS Freshspring’s rich history, including how our chairman bought her 8 years ago for £1!”
Due to covid-19 there will still be limited numbers on board and all health and safety instructions will be given to visitors prior to boarding the ship. As well as this event, SS Freshspring is open every Sunday throughout summer (free to visit).
This year Heritage Open Days will run from 10-19 September 2021. The theme is Edible England, from forgotten recipes to food in the factory, why not hold an event to help audiences explore our culinary heritage?
Heritage Open Days is looking for ‘Edible England’ to encompass the broadest possible spectrum of events and stories, from revealing culinary tastes of the past to going behind-the-scenes of modern production methods. The theme will also explore the customs and quirks that have developed around what we eat and drink, as well as the fascinating history of some of our regional and national specialties.
You can get a range of extra resources by registering an event including marketing and evaluation materials to help inform future activity. For more details about how to get involved, visit the Heritage Open Days website.
Industrial Heritage Networks 