Each September thousands of volunteers across the country invite you to experience local history, architecture and culture. All for free.
HODs will return between 10-19 September 2021. Selby Civic Society organises events in Selby and these can be found on these pages. Outside of the Selby area, find an event taking place near you by searching the directory across the whole of England on the national Visiting Heritage Open Days page.
New events are added to the directory each day, so do check back for more as we build up to the festival.
St James the Apostle Church, Selby
St James was built to be Selby's 'free of charge' church. It has two rare Jean-Baptiste Capronnier windows, a unique Bible Timeline jigsaw and was the site of Selby's only WW2 disaster.
Selby Abbey Tour
Join us for a special tour of Selby Abbey! Explore the hidden gems of Selby Abbey including lepers’ squint and masons’ marks. For the first time we will be including all things edible in our tour revealing carvings within our capitals and hidden butchers in our windows!
Selby Abbey Minecraft Tour
Jump and fly round Selby Abbey like never before! Join us for a tour of Selby Abbey in Minecraft where we will be showcasing the scale model of the Abbey through our online webinar.
Selby Abbey Stained Glass Tour
This tour will cover some of the finest examples of stained glass in Britain. Discover the stories behind our famous Jesse Window, incredible St Germanus Window, Washington Window, and all things royal in our south transept.
Lunchtime Recital featuring Eleni Keventsidou
Join us for a lunchtime recital by Eleni Keventsidou on our historic organ. The William Hill Organ is a large part of our heritage. Played regularly, the Selby Abbey Trust has organised a lunchtime recital featuring Eleni Keventsidou from Athens, currently residing at Rugby School for the Heritage Open Day programme. This forms part of...
Walking Tour – Selby Town Centre: A Hive of Activity
Meet a mid-20th century trader to get the inside story of Selby’s famous Monday Market and a shopkeeper who profits from its presence, both played by the storyteller. A family-friendly walking tour around the centre of the market town of Selby with a tale of two brothers, both portrayed by the storyteller/guide: one a market...
Walking Tour – Yorkshire’s First Railway Station
Meet the engineer of the proposed Leeds and Selby Railway due to open in 1834 and become a navvy constructing the line as part of his story. A family-friendly walking tour along Ousegate to Selby Railway Station and onto a platform listening to the tale of, and participating in the building of Yorkshire’s first railway....
Selby Medieval Day
Join us for our medieval extravaganza! We will have stalls, activities and displays suitable for all the family.
Abbots Staith Archaeology Day
We will host a number of local groups from Selby and the surrounding villages who will share their local history and archaeology research with the public.
Abbots Staith Virtual Tour
Take a virtual tour of the Abbot’s Staith warehouse from the comfort of your own home.
Selby Medieval Day – Abbots Staith Tour
A group of up to 12 people will be given an in-person tour of the warehouse building ground floor.
Selby Streets for All
Walk the streets of Selby town centre to identify what you think is historically special and what makes the street distinctive: connections to its history, how it is used today, what are the defining features?