Open House 2019
The Open House programme for 2019 has just been released and there are some cracking places to visit. If you don’t already know, Open House is the one weekend each year when hundreds of buildings in London open their doors to the public for free. It’s a chance to nose around beautifully architected homes, sneak a peek at grand interiors like Lancaster House, or go up the latest skyscraper. Below are our top picks for some of the more off-beat destinations that make a great follow-up or prequel to our walks. Be sure to book well ahead where pre-booking is required as places go fast.
- Fascinated (like us!) by all things sewerage? Hurry and book a place to visit Bazalgette’s Victorian cathedral to sewage at Abbey Mills Pumping Station or the Greenwich Pumping Station (open for the first time this year).
- For more subterranean snooping check out the Brunel Museum with its access to the first tunnel under the Thames, or head for the gorgeous Crystal Palace Subway.
- For a follow-up to our Rubbish Trip visit Southwark Integrated Waste Management Facility off the Old Kent Road where refuse is sorted for recycling and energy recovery.
- Head to The Old Bailey for a look at the grand face of our criminal justice system.
- Interested in spaces that resist the rush? Lots of churches, temples, meeting houses and other places of worship are opening their doors, including the Westminster Quaker Meeting House, Leytonstone and Wanstead and Hampstead Synagogues and the Suleymaniye Mosque in Hackney.
- Curious about how London’s bells are rung? St Botolph Aldgate will be putting on a demonstration on Sunday.