Doors Open Days South Lanarkshire
Scotland's annual Doors Open Days festival gives you free access to lots of fascinating buildings across South Lanarkshire! This year's event will be held on September 6th & 7th!
About Doors Open Days South Lanarkshire
Doors Open Days is Scotland’s largest free festival that celebrates heritage and the built environment, new and old. Every September, you can explore hundreds of fascinating buildings across Scotland for free. Some open up once a year, some just once in a lifetime.
Doors Open Days is a national event run by the Scottish Civic Trust. Information about the national programme, including event listings, can be found at www.doorsopendays.org.uk. Doors Open Days, along with Scottish Archaeology Month take place throughout Scotland and are part of European Heritage Days – an initiative which promotes a sense of community and a “common heritage” throughout the continent.
Programme Highlights:
Biggar Community Fire Station
A community fire station.
Biggar Free Operatives No.167 (Masonic Lodge)
We are a Masonic Lodge located in Biggar, our documented origins go back to 1726, our current temple is as it was in 1814 with furniture and artefacts over 200 years old. We are one of the oldest Masonic Lodges in Scotland and will be celebrating our 300th Anniversary in 2027.
Biggar Gasworks Museum
For more than 130 years, from 1839 to 1973, Biggar Gasworks made coal gas for the town and surrounding district. It was one of the first small town gasworks to open in Scotland, and among the last to close.
Biggar Kirk
Built in 1546, this stone building has stood in the centre of Biggar as a beacon of Christian witness for almost 500 years.
Biggar Puppet Theatre
Biggar Puppet Theatre is the first and only fully working puppet theatre of its kind in Scotland. It is a Victorian style theatre with spectacular decoration and seating for 100 people in a converted coach-house building.
Blackmount Church
A church dating from the 18th century with ecclesiastical history dating back to the 12th century.
Cairngryffe Church
Known as the “Little Cathedral of the Upper Ward.” The church was built as Carmichael Parish Church in about 1750.External staircase dating from the previous parish church. Extensively remodelled in 1905, interior walls have the appearance of ashlar stone work, exposed wooden roof beams. Stained glass designed by William Aikman, made by J.Powell and Sons (Whitefriars Glass). A modern stained-glass window by Crear MacCartney, features local history and Biblical references.
Crawfordjohn Heritage Venture
Small, interesting museum situated in the old Parish Church in Crawfordjohn - full of artefacts, documents and photographs depicting rural life in this corner of the Southern Uplands, plus family and social history of the area.
Douglas Heritage Museum
Local museum, with exhibits on the history of Douglas Village, the Douglas family and the Cameronian Regiment.
East Kilbride Old Parish Church
The present B listed building built by James Pollock as completed in 1774, the Scotch Belfry Tower by Robert Pollock was added in 1818. Behind the Church is the Kirk yard where notable gravestones include the parents of the famous surgeons William and John Hunter and Rev. James French, minister of the Old Parish Church (1791-1835), who was tutor to the young Walter Scott. The 18th century mausoleum of the Stuarts of Torrance family has recently been restored.
Hamilton Mausoleum
Hamilton Mausoleum was one of the finest private tombs in the country and is now one of the town's most famous buildings. It was built as a tomb and monument to Alexander, 10th Duke of Hamilton, nicknamed El Magnifico but was incomplete at the time of his death in 1852. The chapel has a massive dome (over 36 meters high), magnificent bronze doors and a stunning floor made up of different marbles from around the world. One of the first things you will probably notice however is its amazing 15 second echo one of the longest in the world!
Holy Trinity Chapel, Lamington
A B-Listed church built in 1856 as a private place of worship for the Bailie Cochrane family but now owned by Biggar Museum Trust.
Lanark Library
Built in 1914, Lanark Library started as a free library and museum, left by Charles Lindsay. The building is located on Hope Street, a short distance from the Sheriff Court and a few minutes walk from the main shopping area. The library provides a selection of adult fiction and non-fiction books, audio books, photocopier, free wifi, children's library and organised children's events. The library also has a small Archive and Local History Room with many unique and rare collections, such as the Scrapbook by ex-Provost Andrew Forrest and the William Smellie collection of medical textbooks.
Lanark Museum
Lanark Museum is a small independent museum run by volunteers and housed in the YMCA building in Broomgate.
Larkhall Congregational Church
The church was built by subscription in 1875 and has been an integral part of the community ever since. There have been two major renovations, just after WW1 and in the year 2000.
Leadhills and Wanlockhead Railway
Leadhills and Wanlockhead is a heritage railway using the old Caledonian railway line from Elvanfoot to Wanlockhead. The railway when built for the lead mining industry ran as a standard gauge, we have converted it to narrow gauge and run trains from Leadhills station to Glengonner Halt, with the intention to extend to Wanlockhead East. We are the highest adhesion railway in Britain, and totally operated by volunteers!
New Lanark
New Lanark World Heritage Site is a unique 18th century Mill Village sitting alongside the picturesque River Clyde. Founded in 1785 with a focus on philanthropy, education and the welfare of the mill workers, New Lanark became a model for industrial communities that was to spread across the world in the 19th and 20th centuries. New Lanark was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2001. The ongoing conservation and promotion of this unique village and the award-winning visitor attraction is managed by New Lanark Trust, in partnership with South Lanarkshire Council & Historic Environment Scotland.
St Bride's Church, Douglas
Romanesque architectural fragments show that St Bride’s Church was built on the site of an earlier building, probably dating to the 1100s. Much of the church we see today was built in the 1300s. Sir James’ tomb is the first of three elaborate canopied tombs to be found in the church. Its effigy depicts a knight drawing a sword, with his head on a pillow and his feet resting on an animal.
St Nicholas Parish Church, Lanark
Our current building was completed in 1774 and is a category B listed building. Our bell tower is home to Europe’s oldest bell. St Nicholas also has a number of colourful stained glass windows depicting both biblical and civic life. We are hugely lucky to have a well maintained three manual pipe organ.
Where possible we will update our listings to notify of cancelled, postponed and rescheduled events, however we STRONGLY ADVISE that you check with the venue/organiser in the first instance for updates.
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