Blackfriars Priory in Gloucester will reopen to visitors for a limited run of nine days this September, hosting a packed programme of 52 events as part of Gloucester History Week.
Dates, scale and context
The medieval Dominican friary on Ladybellegate Street, founded in 1239 and regarded as one of the most complete surviving Blackfriaries in England, closed to the public on 1 June after Gloucester City Council stepped back from daily management. The site is owned by English Heritage, which acquired it in 1960, and had been leased to the council since 2012.
Organisers of the History Festival say the priory will be used between Friday 11 September and Sunday 20 September to stage a sequence of talks and events that together make up the 52-item programme. Tickets for the festival are due to go on general sale on Friday 24 July.
Speakers and highlights
The line-up includes television presenters and historians who should appeal to a wide audience. Among those named are:
- Tony Robinson (familiar to many as Baldrick from Blackadder and as a presenter of Time Team) on Anglo-Saxon England and medieval Wessex
- Caroline Quentin
- David Olusoga
- Penny Mordaunt
- Nicholas Crane
- Michael Wood, Dan Jones, Ben Robinson and Nandini Das
The festival programme also includes items connected to the recent, much-discussed touring of the Bayeux Tapestry and events with a music-history crossover.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Reopening period | 11–20 September (nine days) |
| Number of events | 52 |
| Ticket sale opens | 24 July (general sale) |
Local significance and what it means for visitors
For more than a decade the priory has been a familiar Gloucester venue, used for concerts, weddings, exhibitions, tours and private hires since it was leased to the city council in 2012. With the council no longer running day-to-day operations, the site has been shut to visitors this summer, but the festival’s temporary programme offers residents and visitors a chance to see inside again.
Practical details — how events are ticketed, capacity limits and any access arrangements — will be published with the festival timetable when tickets go on sale. Anyone planning to attend should be aware the reopening is temporary: after the nine-day programme there is no guarantee the priory will return to its prior pattern of public openings until a longer-term management solution is agreed between English Heritage and local partners.
This concentrated use of the priory will bring extra footfall to the city centre during the festival and provide opportunities for local hospitality businesses and smaller culture events to tie in with the programme. It also highlights ongoing questions about how Gloucester’s historic venues are maintained and programmed when responsibility shifts between national and local custodians.
Further announcements about the full festival schedule, including event timings and ticket prices, are expected from the Gloucester History Festival organisers ahead of the general sale on 24 July.
