Gresham College welcomes hundreds of visitors to Open House Festival

Gresham College was delighted to welcome hundreds of visitors to Barnard's Inn Hall for this year's Open House Festival.

The annual event takes place across all 33 London boroughs and gives people an opportunity to explore architecture, special sites and neighbourhoods.

We opened the doors to what is now our lecture hall on Friday, 19 September, and Saturday, 20 September.

Dating back to the 13th century, at various points in its history it has been an Inn of Chancery, and the dining room of The Mercers' School. It has survived the Great Fire of London, been flooded with gin, and been space for the training of some of the finest legal minds in the country.

Its walls are adorned with stained glass windows and portraits of those who have gone before us.

Visitors entered through the iron gates, heading through the passageway into the courtyard where they were welcomed by Gresham College team members. They were then able to explore the hall with information leaflets provided outlining some of the history contained within the hall's four walls.

The event has been hailed as a success by Gresham College's Head of Fundraising and Engagement, Celia Blakeway-Phillips.

"We were delighted to welcome hundreds of people for this year's Open House Festival. Many visitors had heard of Gresham College and welcomed the opportunity to visit. It was a privilege to share some of our history with them.

"We look forward to welcoming people back to the College for our busy lecture programme. Each event is free to attend and cover a wide range of subjects, as stipulated in the will of our founder Sir Thomas Gresham in 1597.

"People were also very generous in their support for the work of Gresham College, for which we thank them."

For more details, or to make a donation to the work of Gresham College, log on to https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us