About Heritage Open Days
Heritage Open Days is England’s largest community led festival of history and culture, involving thousands of local volunteers and organisations. Every year, in September, it brings people together to celebrate their heritage, community and history. Stories are told, traditions explored, and histories brought to life. It’s your chance to see hidden places and try out new experiences – and it’s all FREE. You can find out more at the Heritage Open Days website.
The Sand House Charity runs either an in-person or an online event each year, as part of Heritage Open Days. Our in-person events typically take the form of indoor illustrated talks, or guided walks around the locality where the Sand House once stood. However, we have also led a poetry workshop and an architectural drawing workshop, both themed on the Sand House, of course.
So far, our online events have focussed on the production of new videos, each covering part of the story of Doncaster’s former Sand House. You can watch those below.
All events for Heritage Open Days are free of charge. However, if you enjoy watching these video, perhaps you would consider making a voluntary donation to The Sand House Charity, please? You may do so at www.paypal.me/TheSandHouseCharity. Thank you.
Heritage Open Days 2023
This page entry was created specially to host our contribution to Heritage Open Days 2023. The theme of the 2023 Festival was “Creativity Unwrapped”, a title which could readily be applied to the Sand House.
Perhaps the most famous part of the entire Sand House complex was the tunnel which ran very close to the house and which was decorated with a wide range of carvings cut from the natural sandstone. This tunnel was known as the Cloisters. The video below tells the story of the Cloisters tunnel and its carvings.
Heritage Open Days 2020
This page entry was created specially to host our contribution to Heritage Open Days 2020.
With the ongoing restrictions caused by the coronavirus pandemic, we shelved our plans for guided walks at the Sand House site for 2020. Instead, we put together a video.
This video uses images of the Sand House in its heyday and compares them with modern day photographs taken at the same locations. It also includes photos taken during the period of redevelopment of the locality and compares them with the modern day, too. The images are accompanied by a narration, summarising the story of the Sand House and providing further details of the changes that occurred in the area during the 20th century.
The video was available to watch during the full 10-day period of Heritage Open Days 2020, beginning on Friday 11 September. Because of its success, we decided to retain it online for the foreseeable future. We hope that you enjoy it.
The Charity
The Sand House Charity was registered with the Charity Commission on 02 March 2017 (Reg. No.1171875). The Patron of The Sand House Charity is the eminent Doncaster-born concert pianist, Matthew Schellhorn. The charity is run entirely by volunteers, with no paid staff.
Donate
You can donate to The Sand House Charity by clicking on the PayPal 'Donate' button below. You do not need to have a PayPal account to donate this way: a debit or credit card is sufficient. We thank you most sincerely for any financial help that you may be able to provide.