Use our downloadable map to guide you around the town centre so that you don't miss any of our open properties.
Then plan your tour around the open properties on Saturday 21st September by using the property details below.
Properties are free to enter during the Heritage Festival.
A rare chance to see this beautiful Victorian building and its stunning 21st century stained glass windows. Built in 1901, the Chapel has a complete set of windows illustrating the academic and liturgical year by the Oxfordshire artist Nicholas Mynheer. Chapel Corridor is hung with documents, portraits and prints which chart the history of the School from 1563 to the present.
Postcode: OX14 1DE Park Road (5 minutes walk from Market Place)
Opening Times: Saturday 21 September 10.30am to 1pm
No booking required.
Access Notes: Sadly, there is no wheelchair access. Parking nearby is very limited, but it is an easy and pleasant walk from the town centre.
Visit the historic house and riverside garden, owned by a charity, which maintains the house as a place for personal quiet and reflection. Attend a talk on the house history. Enjoy hot drinks and home made cakes in one of the oldest rooms in the house.
A Trustee will give short talks (approximately 30 minutes) on the rich history of the house at 11am and 2pm. No need to book but advised to turn up early. Self-guided tours of the downstairs rooms and garden available throughout the day.
Postcode OX14 5EB East St Helen St
Opening Times: Saturday 21 September Open house 10am to 4pm
History talks: 11am and 2pm
No booking required
Max 15 people per tour/session. Talk takes 30 minutes
Access Notes: There are steps and uneven floors in the house. Entry down a gravel drive.
Visit our ancient Hospital Hall within the Long Alley Almshouses, established in 1446, and see paintings and artefacts not usually available to view by the public. Sadly not wheelchair friendly and no toilet facilities
There will be a display of post World War 1 information as well as some modern day information about almshouses.
Postcode OX14 5EJ West St Helen St
Opening Times: Saturday 21 September 10am to 4pm
Booking not required
Open by kind permission of The Abingdon Bridge (TAB), a rare chance to see the Victorian police cells.
The Berkshire County Police Station was built in the 1860s and remained in use after Abingdon's move to Oxfordshire and until 1999. Most of the Grade II listed building has been converted in recent years to private accommodation, but the central area which is open for Heritage Open Days is home to The Abingdon Bridge, a young people’s charity, and includes the original suite of three police cells.
Visitors will be able to see the cells and find out about the work of the charity as well as the history of the building.
Postcode OX14 3HN Bridge St
Opening Times: Saturday 21 September: 10am to 4pm
No booking required
An impressive Victorian Methodist church, set in beautiful surroundings.
Trinity Church is a joint URC/Methodist church built in 1873-5 to replace a nearby smaller church which had outgrown its premises. The land and much of the building costs were provided by a leading local Methodist businessman. Its 128ft Bath stone spire is a very familiar feature on the Abingdon skyline. It has an impressive interior with a high sanctuary and attractive stained glass windows.
For Heritage Weekend there will be an exhibition illustrating the history of the church.
A visit to Trinity Church can be combined with one to Abingdon School Chapel and the nearby Albert Park, surrounded by Victorian mansions.
Postcode OX14 1DB Conduit Road
Opening Times: Saturday 21 September 10am to 2pm
No booking required
Explore these unique and atmospheric medieval buildings and their millstream garden.
The Abbey Buildings were once part of a Benedictine monastery. At its peak in the 12th and 13th centuries, St Mary's Abbey was one of the most influential abbeys in England, but it was closed in 1538 by King Henry VIII as part of the Reformation. The principal buildings were destroyed, and their materials were "repurposed" for Henry’s building projects. Two groups of its buildings remain – this range of domestic buildings near the abbey mill stream and the buildings at the abbey gate (St. Nicolas’ Church, the Abbey gateway and part of the Guildhall which once served as St. John’s Hospital).
Our buildings, built between the 13th and 15th centuries, were part of the "service" area of the abbey - the Exchequer where taxes and levies were collected, the granary, and the lodging-house where visitors stayed.
Come and find out more about their role in the abbey times - and what happened to them afterwards. Don’t miss the beautiful 13th century chimney, the Long Gallery with its fragment of wall-painting and mysterious medieval graffiti – and be surprised by how the granary is used now.
The buildings were acquired by the Friends of Abingdon in the late 1940s and have been restored and cared for by them ever since. Come and have a look – guides available if required, or just wander round - and if you come on Sunday, enjoy a cup of tea/coffee and some home-made cake with us.
Postcode OX14 3JB Find us at the end of Checker Walk, off Abbey Close.
Opening Times:
Wednesday 18 September: 2.30pm to 4.30pm
Thursday 19 September: 2.30pm to 4.30pm
Sunday 22 September: 2pm to 4.30pm
No booking required
Access Notes: Lower floor and gardens are accessible to those with limited mobility.
This house, which was built as a medieval hall house, is one of the oldest in Abingdon. Owned by Oxford Preservation Trust, it is one of the best preserved examples of a 15th century dwelling in Oxfordshire. Visitors can see original features including medieval windows and fireplaces and a remarkable domestic wall painting.
Postcode OX14 5EB East St Helen St
Opening Times: Saturday 21 September 10am to 4pm
Booking not required
Open by kind permission of BH&O LLP, this is a Georgian Grade II listed property. However it has seen a variety of roles including a surveyors office, probation, and a family home, as well as being a lawyers office a couple of hundred years ago.
The property has a wealth of history, and historic features. They include a number of beautiful fireplaces, beams, and other features. We also have lots of information about the families and occupants of the property over the years. Some of the beams have been carbon dated and predate the age of the building: it's thought they may have come from the Abingdon Abbey.
Postcode OX14 5AL
Opening Times: Saturday 21 September: 10.30am to 3.30pm
No booking required
Max 15 people per tour/session. 30 minutes
One of Abingdon's iconic buildings, a stunning church, in a beautiful setting.
There has been a church on the site since the 10th century or earlier. The present church dates from the 13th century but over the subsequent centuries several aisles were added by bequests from local guilds and families so that, unusually, it is now considerably wider than it is long. The panorama of stained glass windows is lovely but the church's most special feature is the very rare ceiling paintings in the 14th century Lady Chapel.
Postcode: OX14 5BS West St Helen St
Opening Times: Saturday 21 September 10am to 4pm
Booking Details
No booking required
Access Notes: No parking at the church, but there is a public car park very close by.
Open by kind permission of West Waddy ADP, this is a rare chance to see inside this lovely building and to enjoy very special views of Abingdon's riverside.
The premises were used for malting in the 17th-19th centuries, but some traces remain of the 16th century dyehouse which was on the same site. The building was beautifully restored and remodelled by a prominent local architect in the early 20th century and is currently occupied by West Waddy ADP, architects and town planners. It is Grade II listed.
As well as admiring the interior, with its beautiful woodwork, take the opportunity to enjoy the unique views of the Thames and other riverside properties.
Postcode OX14 5EB West St Helen St
Opening Times: Saturday 21 September 10am to 2pm
Booking not required
Abingdon Museum presents a day of free children's activities in the Basement with the 'Peace Parade' film screening on a loop throughout the day in the cafe. Come and make badges and flags in celebration of 100 years since the Peace Parade.
Postcode OX14 3HG Market Place
Children's Workshops at 10.30am and 1pm.
Opening Times: Saturday 21 September 10:30am to 3:30pm
Sunday 22nd September 10am to 4pm
A rare chance to explore these wonderful medieval rooms following their recent extensive refurbishment.
The Guildhall comprises several buildings, now linked together around a staircase dating from 1731. The oldest part is the medieval L-shaped Hospital of St John, originally part of the Abbey complex and probably dating from the 12th century, but much altered over the years.
The part facing St Nicolas’ Church was the hospital chapel. From the 18th to the late 20th century it was used as a courtroom and you can still see the dock and bench. Above that is the 18th century Council Chamber with a magnificent array of paintings.
The southern wing became the schoolroom for John Roysse’s grammar school, established in 1563, which remained there till Victorian times. Now known as the Roysse Room it is notable for its ornate ceiling plasterwork.
Further up the staircase you will find the Bear Room and then the Abbey Room. The former has beautiful woodwork and windows and the latter is more interesting for its history: positioned above the abbey gateway it was for some years a prison, with a staircase leading to the cells several floors below.
The open space between the two wings was an enclosed courtyard until the 1930s. In the later 19th century, the courtyard housed the town’s fire engines.
During Heritage Weekend there will be a Flower Festival in the Roysse Room and continuous showings in the Magistrates Court of film footage of Abingdon’s 1919 Homecoming Parade – but first join us at 11am on Saturday 21st for the showing of the 1919 film and an interpretative documentary made by the Heritage Project team, "Abingdon 1919: Coming Home, Moving On".
Postcode OX14 3HU Access from Bridge St and Abbey Close
Opening Times
Saturday 21 September: 11am to 4pm
Sunday 22 September: 11am to 4pm
Booking Details
No booking required
Refreshments will be available in the modern annex to the Guildhall
Access
The Roysse Room, Old Magistrates Court and Roysse Court are fullly accessible. Access to other rooms is via some steps - numbers vary. Please ask if you require assistance.
Abingdon Heritage Weekend is an event managed by Friends of Abingdon Civic Society, working closely with the Abingdon and Area Archeological and Historical Society, and is run by a committee of volunteers. We aim to hold a heritage event every year in September, and the scale and scope of the event varies depending on the year and the budget. If you would like to become an organising volunteer please register your details here and we will contact you in late September/early October so that you can join in the planning for the next heritage event in 2025.
