Thousands of local residents experience Oxford’s hidden places: Open Doors 2026

Oxford was a hive of activity all weekend as thousands of Oxfordshire residents
and visitors stepped through doors old and new to explore over 120 sites across the
city, all free of charge, as part of Open Doors, organised by Oxford Preservation
Trust on Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 September.

This year's programme was packed with new experiences, from a rare chance to explore the historic architecture of Lincoln College Library, the former All Saints Church, converted to a library in the 1970s, to the striking new Stephen A. Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities, recently completed by Hopkins Architects. Visitors also explored Osney Island on a walking tour marking 175 years since the area was first developed, took in the Wonder of Birds at the Bodleian Libraries, tried their hand at a game with the Oxford City and County Bowls Club, and joined Uncomfortable Oxford for a tour Deconstructing Rhodes House.

Making Cars was popular at the Ultimate Picture Palace, with two fully booked
screenings of an episode from the groundbreaking series first shown in the 1980s,
telling the stories of Cowley's Morris Motors and Pressed Steel factories through the
voices of the people who worked there. At the Museum of Oxford, volunteers helped
visitors discover thousands of building plans held in the Town Hall Archives, spanning the 1880s to the 1930s, with highlights including a blueprint for a huge glove-making factory off the Botley Road.

The Oxford Colleges once again proved hugely popular, with Harris Manchester, Christ Church, Corpus Christi, Merton, Jesus, The Queen's College, Univ, St John's, Magdalen, Wadham, Lady Margaret Hall, St Catherine's, St Cross, Nuffield, St Edmund Hall, Somerville and New College all opening their doors for 2026. St John's College ran a huge programme of activities, with garden tours, two free concerts, an exhibition and the chance to meet Missy the Harris Hawk, and saw nearly 7,000 visitors across the weekend.

Musical performances abounded, with Vox performing at St Edmund Hall and the
Blavatnik School of Government and the City of Oxford Silver Band and Ghaetta
Medieval Band playing in the historic Castleyard of Oxford Castle Prison.

On Sunday, over 350 people visited Slade Camp which opened for drop-in tours led by local historians. A former Second World War military site, it became a close-knit community of over 100 families through post-war housing need. A short film about the project ran hourly in the marquee, alongside an exhibition of photographs and artefacts unearthed during recent investigations, and visitors rounded off their trip with homemade cake, tea, and Slade Camp's own apple juice, pressed from trees that have stood since the camp's earliest days.

At Blackwell Hall, families had a go on the Bodleian Library's Victorian printing press to make their own printed keepsake, or over at the Castle printed a t-shirt or tote bag with local artist Mani at Ready, Steady, Print! At Rewley Road Fire Station, visitors could sit in a fire engine and experience a blue light simulator, before heading round the corner to Isis Lock, South Oxford Canal, to get hands-on with history artefacts, canal boat crafts, and eye-spy take-away packs.