Heritage Open Days at Croome
As part of Heritage Open Days, the National Trust is offering free entry to Croome from Monday 14 September – Friday 18 September 2026 inclusive (10am – 5pm each day). Including tours, talks, and a Panorama Tower open day.
House Tours
Introductory House Tours available daily at 12pm and 2pm (capacity 16): Introductory House Tours
Join our volunteers for a tour that will bring Croome’s story to life; with its varied history you’ll definitely learn something new.
The Introductory House tour is 45 minutes long, at 12pm and 2pm every day* and are ground floor only. It will be led by one of our very knowledgeable house volunteers.
The maximum number of people per tour is 20 excluding the guide. *All tours are subject the availability of volunteers to run them.
Other Tours
Monday - Behind the Scenes tour, 12.45pm, 45 minutes (capacity 15)
As part of Heritage Open Week, join our volunteers to bring Croome’s story to life through a free Behind the Scenes house tour. Step behind closed doors to uncover centuries of change and explore hidden stories of servant life through a guided tour behind the scenes in Croome Court.
Behind the Scenes Tour | National Trust
Tuesday - Behind the Scenes Collections tour, 12.45pm, 45 minutes (capacity 8)
Wednesday - Behind the Scenes Collections tour, 12.45pm, 45 minutes (capacity 8)
As part of Heritage Open Week, join our volunteers to bring Croome’s story to life through a free Behind the Scenes Collections tour in the house. Step behind closed doors to discover Croome's treasured collections, revealing stories of servants, families and architecture through a guided tour in some of Croome Court's most atmospheric spaces.
Behind the Scenes Collections Tour | National Trust
Thursday - Robert Adam tour, 12.45pm, 45 minutes (capacity 20)
As part of Heritage Open Week, join our volunteers as they share the significant contribution Robert Adam, British neoclassical architect and designer of interiors and furniture, made to Croome. This tour provides an introduction to British neoclassical architect and designer Robert Adam and the significant contribution he made to Croome’s interiors. Commissioned early in his career by the 6th Earl of Coventry, Adam went to form important collaborations with ‘Capability’ Brown, having met when working together at Croome
Robert Adam Guided Tour | National Trust
Friday - Behind the Scenes tour, 12.45pm, 45 minutes (capacity 15)
As part of Heritage Open Week, join our volunteers to bring Croome’s story to life through a free Behind the Scenes house tour. Step behind closed doors to uncover centuries of change and explore hidden stories of servant life through a guided tour behind the scenes in Croome Court.
Behind the Scenes Tour | National Trust
All tours are subject the availability of volunteers to run them.
Garden Tours
Garden Tour: Wednesday 16th September at 11am and Thursday 17th September at 2pm: Garden tours at Croome 2026
Find out more about Croome’s history, design, plants and statues on an hour’s stroll in the garden with one of our knowledgeable volunteers.
Meet near reception. Your tour will finish at the house. Each tour last about an hour and covers approx. a mile and a half on hard surfaced paths in the garden.
*Please note all tours are subject to volunteer availability.
Talks:
Compost Talks: Tues 15 Sept 11.30am and Thurs 17 Sept 11.30am. 45 minutes long (capacity 12). Compost Talks Information
Find out more about how we compost our green waste at Croome and what you can do at home to create compost.
Come behind the scenes to find out more about how we compost our green waste at Croome and what you can do at home to create compost. See our work area and compost bay system, and hear from Mark, one of the Garden Team. Meet at the Outdoors Hub, just past the shop.
Each tour last about 45 minutes walking on hard surfaced paths in the garden. Short dogs on leads are welcome.
Availability is on a first come first served basis.
RAF talks:
As part of Heritage Open Days, hear about RAF Defford and how our top-secret airfield in Worcester played their part in winning WWII
An in-depth free talk about the fascinating history of RAF Defford – a top-secret airfield during WWII.
Monday 14th 11am, 1 hour, capacity 50. In the SOQ.
Friday 18th 11am, 1 hour, capacity 50. In the SOQ.
Book you place here RAF Talks in the Sergeant's and Orderlies Quarters
Exhibitions:
Discover the 30 years of the National Trust exhibition at the Temple Greenhouse, open daily: 30 years of the National Trust at Croome - Exhibition
Discover the remarkable story behind the restoration of Croome’s parkland, which returned the landscape to Capability Brown’s original vision, in this exhibition at Temple Greenhouse.
2026 marks 30 years since the National Trust acquired 670 acres of landscape at Croome and began a dramatic restoration project to return Croome to the landscape we enjoy today.
Commissioned by the 6th Earl of Coventry in the mid-18th Century, Croome was the first large scale landscape design by Lancelot 'Capability' Brown and is often described as his 'first and favourite child'. Following a series of ownership changes in the 20th Century, the estate fell into disuse; some areas were left to overgrow, whilst others were ploughed up and farmed, and trees were lost to disease or felled to create larger fields.
In 1996, the National Trust began work to restore the landscape to Capability Brown's original vision. In this exhibition, discover the restoration process from its earliest stages to how we plan to manage the parkland into the future.
Follow the conservation journey of the Robert Adam bookcases through our exhibition in the House, open daily: Robert Adam bookcases - Exhibition
Croome has begun a major conservation project to reinstall the Robert Adam bookcases that have recently returned from the V&A. Follow the conservation journey over the next few years as we work towards reinstating them in the Library.
Commissioned by the 6th Earl of Coventry in the 18th Century, the bookcases were crafted by the same skilled makers responsible for three of Croome’s finest early Neoclassical interiors. More than simple storage, they were conceived as architectural features—integral to Robert Adam’s vision for the room and to the 6th Earl of Coventry’s ambition to “furnish his house with elegance” in the 1750s.
For over 200 years the bookcases remained at Croome, surviving as one of the last intact elements of the house’s original interiors after uncertainty over the mansion’s future in the mid-20th-century led to the selling of much of the collection. Aside from their association with one of Adam’s most celebrated early Neoclassical interiors, their acquisition by the V&A in 1975 recognised their national significance as outstanding examples of mid‑18th‑century English furniture.
We are now working towards reinstating the bookcases in the library at Croome. This will be a major conservation project and we are currently raising funds to support this work.
Discover the craftsmanship, history, and ambition behind these extraordinary bookcases, and be part of the next chapter in their journey.
Panorama Tower Open Day:
Visit the Panorama Tower, built in 1801 by James Wyatt for the 6th Earl of Coventry. Enjoy panoramic views of the countryside from the balcony on Wednesday 16th September 12pm-2.30pm Panorama Tower Open Days
Visit the Panorama Tower, built in 1801 by James Wyatt for the 6th Earl of Coventry. Enjoy panoramic views of the countryside from the balcony. Take a peek inside one of Croome's eye-catchers which is usually closed to the public. With fantastic panoramic views across the surrounding countryside from the top of the tower, you'll understand why James Wyatt chose this location to build the Panorama Tower for the 6th Earl of Coventry in 1801.