Open House Festival 2026
Our most exciting Open House Festival yet! See more of our heritage sites than ever before.
This year we are opening up our heritage sites once again as part of London’s Open House Festival. Two of our sites have now reopened after substantial conservation work; see the Burton Mausoleum and Grove Gardens Chapel like never before!
All events are drop-in and completely free, so no need to book.
Saturday 12th September
Bazalgette Mausoleum: 11am-3pm
St Mary’s Church, 30 St Mary’s Road, SW19 7BP
This fascinating Grade II listed mausoleum is the final resting place of Sir Joseph Bazalgette, the esteemed Victorian civil engineer responsible for development of London’s modern water system. He is joined by his wife, Maria, and five of their eleven children.
What makes this building even more interesting is the one previous occupant. John Anthony Rucker, who died in 1804, was the first and only member of his family to be interred in the mausoleum. The Bazalgette family purchased the mausoleum in 1886 when the rest of the churchyard was at full capacity.
Habitats & Heritage are currently delivering a National Lottery Heritage Funded project to conserve the mausoleum, save it from collapse, and educate around the topic of clean water, waste water, and promoting clean rivers.
Plan Your Visit
There’s plenty more to see in Wimbledon on the same day in the:
The Wimbledon Open House Festival Collection
Landmarks, Faith, Architecture and Community in Merton
Wimbledon Village is often associated with tennis and the Common, but lying between the Common and Wimbledon town, this cluster of buildings tells the story of a community across three centuries. From a medieval parish site to a striking 1960s tent-roofed church, from a windmill that once ground corn, to a Victorian engineer’s final resting place. This Open House Festival, step inside these landmarks, sacred, civic and domestic, and discover the layers of history, craftsmanship and community life that shape the area today.
PLEASE NOTE: Everything listed here is opening on SATURDAY 12th SEPTEMBER as part of the Open House Festival. Actual opening times will vary so please check the individual listings for times.
WHILE YOU’RE HERE: The area also boasts a wonderful selection of shops, bars and cafes to cater for your every need while visiting. You are guaranteed a warm welcome!
Walking map route on Google Maps
Sunday 13th September
Burton Mausoleum: 12pm-4pm (last entry 3:30pm)
For over 70 years, the Burton Mausoleum has been sealed to visitors following a break in and vandalism in the 1950s. For two years Habitats & Heritage ran Burton: Exploring Without Boundaries an NLHF funded project to conserve, reinterpret and educate around the story of the Burtons and their fascinating mausoleum.
Completed in Spring 2026, the conservation work at the mausoleum has seen a full clean and lime wash, the reinstatement of the external door, and a clean and cataloguing of all the fascinating objects inside.
Visitors will be able to step inside the mausoleum. Please note this will be in small groups due to limited space and fragile objects. You may need to queue for your turn so please bear with us!
St Mary Magdalen Roman Catholic Church will be offering food and drink until 2pm.
Plan Your Visit
Grove Gardens Chapel: 11am-3pm
Grove Gardens Chapel has been closed to the general public since 2020 due to structural issues. You may have been to an Open House event here in the past 6 years and seen an empty building in need of a some care and attention. Completed in Spring 2026, Grove Gardens Chapel has been underpinned in an ambitious project to protect the building from subsidence. Now the building is operational, and the space is being used for community projects, most notably The Fixery, Richmond’s reuse, repair, and circular economy hub.
The Fixery will be operating during this event, so when you have learned about the building’s history from H&H staff, do pop in and see what its all about. They will be serving hot drinks and cakes – but get in there fast as they soon run out! You could even bring along something that needs fixing or refill your toiletries at the refill station. Please note the refreshments station is card only!
Plan Your Visit
Kilmorey Mausoleum: 11am-3pm
A grand Egyptian-style mausoleum sits in a private garden that is usually closed to the general public. The Scottish granite structure is colourful and striking, showing Egyptian-style motifs imagined by Aberdeen-based sculptor Alexander MacDonald. Step inside this fascinating building and hear about the story of its maker and the two people interred there. Fun fact: The Kilmorey Mausoleum was originally built for Brompton Cemetery where it stood for around 8 years before the Earl of Kilmorey moved it to his home at Woburn Park, Chertsey. It was moved again six years later when Kilmorey moved house once more to Gordon House where is has remained ever since.
Plan Your Visit
St Leonards Court Air Raid Shelter: 11am-3pm
Tucked away in a quiet residential area, is a curious circular turret. What looks like a modest tool shed is actually the opening to a structure that tells a fascinating story. In 1939, shortly after the start of the Second World War, architect Philip A W Roffey decided to supplement his housing block with an air raid shelter. Initially the shelter could hold 120 people (fewer than the total of residents), but was extended in 1940 to include night rooms. Inside, the building shows the remnants of people’s lives spent underground, sheltering from bombing raids. Peg numbers, in a uniform green that matches the original paint of the door and the shelves above the bunks, are still visible along the corridor. Each number was beautifully rendered in a stylised font. Lightbulbs dating to the war and homemade lampshades are still in situ in some of the bunks, along with the green painted wooden bed slats. Examples of lampshades include some made from strips of material and even one made from the original lightbulb box. There is a small letter box for sending internal mail, and a stove at the end of the corridor. The original benches in the day room are still present, as are the four chemical toilets.
Plan Your Visit