Writer, historian and TV presenter Dr Lucy Worsley will celebrate the best in heritage education when she presents the Sandford Awards 2017 next month.

Palaces, castles, cathedrals and museums are among the 39 UK heritage attractions that have won an award celebrating their excellent educational programmes.

Dr Worsley, who is also Chief Curator of Historic Royal Palaces, will present awards to the famous (Blenheim Palace and the Warner Brothers Studio Tour) and the less well known (Geevor Tin Mine in Cornwall and the Winding House Museum in new Tredegar, Wales).

The Sandford Awards, which will celebrate their 40th anniversary next year, are administered by Bishop Grosseteste University in Lincoln in partnership with the Heritage Education Trust. This year’s award ceremony will take place on Tuesday 21st November at the Fashion Museum and Assembly Rooms in Bath.

“It is wonderful to see another hugely varied range of Sandford Award winners this year, many of which have never entered the scheme before,” said Dr Tracy Borman, Chief Executive of the Heritage Education Trust.

“We are particularly delighted to be presenting the awards at the Fashion Museum and Assembly Rooms in Bath, a city so closely associated with Jane Austen, whose 200thanniversary is being commemorated this year.

Councillor Cherry Beath, Chair of Bath and North East Somerset Council, will welcome guests to the ceremony, which begins at 2.30pm on Tuesday 21st November 2017.

Sandford Award Winners 2017

  • Abbey House Museum and Kirkstall Abbey, Leeds
  • Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire
  • Attingham Park, Shropshire
  • British Motor Museum, Warwickshire
  • Cardiff Castle, Wales
  • Chawton House Library, Hampshire
  • Cooper Gallery- Barnsley Museums
  • Corinium Museum, Gloucestershire
  • Coventry Cathedral
  • Fashion Museum and Assembly Rooms, Bath
  • Geevor Tin Mine, Cornwall
  • Gressenhall Farm and Workhouse, Norfolk
  • Hull and East Riding Museum
  • Jane Austen’s House Museum, Hampshire
  • Jewish Museum London
  • Knole, National Trust, Kent
  • Lamport Hall, Northamptonshire
  • Leeds Castle, Kent
  • Leeds City Museum, West Yorkshire
  • Lion Salt Works, Cheshire
  • M Shed, Bristol
  • Mansfield Museum, Nottinghamshire
  • Museum of English Rural Life, Berkshire
  • National Football Museum
  • The Navan Centre & Fort, Northern Ireland
  • Norwich Castle
  • Robert Burns Birthplace Museum, Scotland
  • Sentry Hill Historic House and Visitor Centre, Northern Ireland
  • Temple Newsam House, West Yorkshire
  • The Englefield Estate, Berkshire
  • The Geffrye Museum, London
  • Valence House Museum, London
  • Verulamium Museum, St Albans
  • Warner Bros. Studio Tour London
  • Weald and Downland Living Museum, West Sussex
  • Weaver Hall Museum and Workhouse, Cheshire
  • Weston Park, Shropshire
  • Winding House Museum, Wales
  • York’s Chocolate Story

Find out more about the Sandford Award.


30th October 2017