Heritage Open Days Watford 2026: 5 free events, 11 to 12 Sept

Five Watford buildings and events are on the Heritage Open Days programme this September, all free, and all packed into Friday 11 and Saturday 12 September: tower tours at St Mary’s Church, an open day at St John’s, the Fire Station museum on Lower High Street, guided tours of the Pump House Theatre, and a talk on the Canadian Khaki University that sat in Leavesden in 1945 and 1946. The national festival runs from 11 to 20 September and Watford has taken part for more than a decade. (Watford Borough Council, 4 August 2026)

Three of the five need no booking. The two that prefer it, the talk and the Pump House tours, are capped at 50 and 20 people, so those are the ones to sort now.

The full Watford line-up, with times

All timings and booking details below are from each event’s own listing on the Heritage Open Days site.

Friday 11 September

• Friends of the Museum of Watford history talk, 2pm to 3pm, Wellspring Church Centre, 1 Wellspring Way, WD17 2AH. Helen George, a social historian whose research covers Watford’s air raids, retail trade and post-war rebuilding, speaks on the Canadian Khaki University, which was based at Leavesden from 1945 to 1946. Pre-booking preferred: book a free place through the email address on the listing or on 01923 278705; maximum 50. (Heritage Open Days listing)
• A Tale of Two Histories: Pump House tour, 4pm to 5pm, Local Board Road, WD17 2JP. A guided tour of the Pump House Theatre and Arts Centre covering its first life as a pumping station and its second as a theatre; the centre marked its 50th birthday last year. Pre-booking preferred, maximum 20, by the email on the listing, on 01923 241362 or via pumphouse.info. Estimated 1 hour 30 minutes. (Heritage Open Days listing)

Saturday 12 September

• St John’s Church, Sutton Road, WD17 2QQ, 10am to 5pm. Self-guided visits to the Anglo-Catholic church, which dates from 1873, with volunteers on hand and leaflets on the architecture, glass, font and vestments. No booking. (Heritage Open Days listing)
• Pump House tour, second running, 11am to 12pm. Same details as Friday. (Heritage Open Days listing)
• Fire Station Museum and Open Day, 12pm to 3pm, Watford Fire Station, 223 to 229 Lower High Street, WD17 2AG. The station’s annual open day: talk to crews, see the appliances demonstrated, try a firefighting hose, go into the smoke and heat training facility, and visit the museum’s collection of old kit and photographs of Watford’s brigade. Stalls include fire safety and charities. No booking. (Heritage Open Days listing)
• St Mary’s Church, Church Street, WD18 0EG, 12pm to 2pm. Self-guided tours of Watford’s oldest church, with the bell tower opened by the local bellringers and refreshments in the church centre. No booking. (Heritage Open Days listing)

Why these buildings

St Mary’s is the mother church of the old parish of Watford. The church’s own history says nothing in the building predates 1230, and that the chancel arch, the south arcade of the nave and the double piscina in the chancel survive from that first stone church, thought to have been founded by William of Trumpington, Abbot of St Albans. Historic England lists it at Grade I (list entry 1101120). (St Mary’s Watford, Our History)

The Pump House on Local Board Road is described in the council’s release as “once a pump station and site of the local health board”, which is what the tour’s title, A Tale of Two Histories, refers to.

What it means for you

Everything is free, but the two capped events will go first: the Khaki University talk takes 50 and each Pump House tour 20, so email or call this week if you want a place. Saturday is the day to do a circuit on foot: St John’s from 10am, the Pump House tour at 11am, then St Mary’s and the Fire Station both open at 12pm, one off the High Street and the other on Lower High Street. If you are driving in, the council’s car park directory carries current charges, and our roadworks and travel page has the week’s closures. Heritage Open Days runs nationally to 20 September; the full search is at heritageopendays.org.uk, and for the rest of the month see things to do in Watford.