Heritage Open Days
From 8-17 September 2023, the MRC will be taking part in the Heritage Open Days, offering behind the scenes tours and an opportunity for a hands-on exploration of our collections.
What are 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."
Heritage Open Days were established in 1994. Beginning with around 700 events in its first incarnation, today there are over 5000 events nationwide each year. The aim is to open up culture and heritage spaces to the wider community.
You can find out more about the events happening near you on the Heritage Open Days website. There are loads of fantastic events across Coventry, Warwickshire, and the West Midlands, which you can find using the Advanced Search tool.
What will we show you?
We will give you a guided tour of the Modern Records Centre, including our reading room and strong rooms.
We will tell you about the history of the MRC, about our collections, and give you a little introduction to the life of an archive. We hold over 1500 collections specialising in political, economic, and social history, in particular industrial relations and industrial politics. These relate mostly to British history and date largely from the late 19th century onwards.
You can also visit our exhibition space, where we will have our 'MRC in 50 Objects' exhibition on display.
Whilst on campus, you may also wish to visit the Mead Gallery (in the Arts Centre) or take a walk around the campus' modern art Sculpture Trail.
Sign up!
We will run two open days - you can sign up to them below:
Tuesday 12 September 2023, 11.00-13.00
Thursday 14 September 2023, 13.00-15.00
If you try to sign up but the form says the session is full, please email archives@warwick.ac.uk to be placed on a waiting list.
On the day:
Please meet outside the Modern Records Centre. You can find us on the Campus Map, just behind the University Library.
Return to the MRC@50 main page.