Education Resources

As a lasting legacy of our four-year HLF-supported Audience Development Programme, we produced a range of practical resources that are designed to help anyone interested in opening up the built environment to a wider audience.

Please note that English Heritage took over Heritage Open Days in May 2009 after the Civic Trust went into administration. The printed resource materials which you can download as PDFs from this page make frequent reference to the programme’s former owner. Whilst some details are now out of date, the essence of these publications however is as true and relevant as ever: helping schools and volunteers make the most of Heritage Open Days and its educational potential.

Teacher’s Pack

This is the second and improved edition of our popular and successful Teacher’s Pack, which is available for free download from this site. The publication contains a wide range of project ideas, schemes of work, tips from other teachers and much more. Ideas range from using storytelling, oral history, songs and photography to interpret local history, architecture and culture to creating an A-Z of your local area, building your own model town or staging a Heritage Open Days event.

If you would like to download a pack, please click here

Organisers’ Handbook

The Organisers’ Handbook provides advice and support for local Heritage Open Days organisers. Taking the reader through the event cycle month by month, it contains inspirational ideas to help attract a much wider and more diverse range of visitors to their properties and events.

A pdf version of the handbook can be downloaded from our Organisers’ Portal

Complementary online library of downloadable materials

The handbook is also available as an accessible web version. Under each section you will find a range of downloadable factfiles, reports and templates complementing the monthly themes of the Handbook.