English Heritage will be participating in the annual Heritage Open Days this year, the country’s largest festival celebrating history and culture.

The charity has an exciting programme of in-person events between 11 and 20 September 2026, ranging from guided and walking tours to interior openings and historical talks – and all for free.

This year's festival theme is "Everyday Histories", and will focus on the people, places and stories that have shaped local communities.

Supported by English Heritage volunteers and partners, here are all the events taking place in the West Midlands:

Buildwas Abbey Guided Tours (Shropshire) | 14 & 16 September, 10am & 1pm
Situated in a stunning wooded Severn-side setting, an English Heritage guide will take visitors on a fascinating journey around the impressive ruins of this Cistercian abbey, including its unusually unaltered 12th-century church, beautiful vaulted and tile-floored chapter house, and recently re-opened crypt chapel.

Haughmond Abbey Guided Tours (Shropshire) | 15 & 17 September, 10:30am & 1pm
Join English Heritage’s knowledgeable volunteers for an exclusive history and architectural tour of Haughmond Abbey. The Augustinian abbey has extensive remains which include its abbots’ quarters, refectory and cloister. The substantially surviving chapter house has a frontage richly bedecked with 12th- and 14th-century carving and statuary, and a fine timber roof of around 1500.

Iron Bridge Guided Tours (Shropshire) | 14, 15 & 18 September, 11am & 1pm
Guided tours for Heritage Open Days will take a look at the history of the world’s first iron bridge, erected over the River Severn in 1779. This pioneering structure marked a turning point in English design and engineering; after it was built, cast iron came to be widely used in the construction of bridges, aqueducts and buildings. Booking for this tour is essential.

Lilleshall Abbey Guided Tour (Shropshire) | 18 September, 10:30am
Enjoy a tour around this former Augustinian abbey, founded in 1148. It became a private residence after the Reformation and was severely damaged during the Civil War during a Parliamentarian siege. Despite that, much of the church survives, and is viewable from gallery level. Booking essential.

J.W. Evans Silver Factory Open Days (Birmingham) | 12 & 18 September, 11am-2:30pm
As part of the 2026 Heritage Open Days Festival, English Heritage is opening up J. W. Evans Silver Factory and giving visitors a look into Birmingham’s rich industrial history. The silver factor is a treasure trove of artefacts, seemingly frozen in time. Through guided interpretation, visitors will learn about the historical context of Jenkin Evans, Factory Founder, the development of the business, and its place within the Victorian age and wider Industrial Revolution.

Wall Roman Site Guided Tours (Staffordshire) | 11-13 September, 11:30am
As part of Heritage Open Days 2026, enthusiastic and knowledgeable English Heritage volunteers will be offering guided tours of Wall Roman Site (Letocetum) in Staffordshire, an important staging post on the Roman military road to north Wales. At Wall today you can still see the remains of an inn for travellers and the public baths, with its sequence of cold, warm and hot rooms. The site museum provides a fascinating insight into life here and displays many excavated finds.

For more information, please visit english-heritage.org.uk