Union Chapel, St John's Gate and 28 more Islington places open free from 12 September. Fifteen of them open on Saturday 19, and 13 take advance bookings.
Thirty places in Islington open free for the Open House Festival, which runs from Saturday 12 to Sunday 20 September 2026. That is the programme’s own borough count, and it is a mixed list: the 18th-century waterworks buildings at New River Head, a synagogue, a nursery, an architects’ office, a community garden, five private homes and five walking tours.
Everything on the list is free. Some of it you can walk into. Some of it needs a ticket booked first, and the popular ones go.
Saturday 19 September is the big day
Half the borough’s programme falls on one Saturday. Fifteen of the 30 open on 19 September, against nine on the opening Saturday and seven on Sunday 13. Two weekdays, Monday 14 and Friday 18, have nothing in Islington at all.
The places you cannot normally get into
The London Archives, 40 Northampton Road, EC1R. Five hour-long behind the scenes tours on Saturday 19, from 10:05, going into areas that are closed to the public and showing how London’s archives are stored and conserved. Booked in advance.
Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration at New River Head, behind 28 Amwell Street. This is the 1768 waterworks site engineered by John Smeaton, restored by Tim Ronalds Architects and opened to the public on 5 June 2026. Open 11:00 to 16:00 on Sunday 13 and Saturday 19, with a guided tour and a talk by the architects on each of those days.
Union Chapel, 19b Compton Terrace, N1. The single biggest programme in the borough, all on Saturday 19. Self-guided tours of the Grade I and II* buildings run 11:00 to 21:00. On top of that there are guided tours, an organ recital by teenage students on the 1877 Willis organ, two hands-on organ workshops for children, a Cardboard Citizens theatre piece and a spoken word performance. The new archive room is open 11:00 to 17:30, holding more than 200 years of the chapel’s records. The extras need booking.
Museum of the Order of St John, St John’s Gate, St John’s Lane, EC1M. The gatehouse and the museum, open 13:00 to 18:00 on Saturday 19, drop in, no booking.
Wesley’s Chapel and House, 49 City Road, EC1Y. The only Islington opening on Thursday 17, 11:00 to 15:00, with costumed interpretation of Georgian life in John Wesley’s house and architecture trails for the house and the chapel.
Chabad-Lubavitch of Islington, 1-3 Elliott’s Place, N1. Sunday 20, 10:00 to 14:00. Its listing describes it as the borough’s only synagogue. Short talks on Islington’s Jewish history and practice run through the morning, and there is an art exhibition.
Five homes, open for the day
Private houses and flats are the part of Open House that books out first. Five are on the Islington list:
- Barnsbury Flat, 63C Richmond Avenue, N1. A Victorian flat in the Barnsbury Conservation Area, reworked by Fynn Architects in 2026, with the architect and interior designer there. Saturday 12, 10:00 to 16:30, drop in.
- Rufford Mews Apartment, Unit 9 Rufford Mews, N1. Saturday 12 and Sunday 13, 12:00 to 18:00, with the designers on hand.
- 11 Hungerford Road, N7. An 1864 house, eleven half-hour guided tours on Sunday 13 from noon. Booked.
- Paxton Locher House, 8-9 Clerkenwell Green, EC1R. The 1995 house by Paxton Locher Architects, open 10:00 to 17:00 on both Saturday 19 and Sunday 20.
- 44 Monsell Road, N4. A Victorian infill house extended in 2023, Saturday 19, 10:00 to 17:00.
Five walking tours
Each starts at a fixed meeting point. Four of the five need a ticket booked in advance.
- Islington New River walking tour, from outside Canonbury station, Wallace Road. Follows the 400-year-old New River aqueduct and ends at New River Head. Tuesday 15, 13:30, and Saturday 19, 12:00.
- The Fleet beneath your feet, from Farringdon station, Cowcross Street. Sunday 13, 11:00 to 13:00.
- Calamity and civility: contrasts in Clerkenwell, from Charterhouse Square. Saturday 12, 10:30 to 12:15, ending at West Smithfield.
- Georgian Clerkenwell’s speculative housing boom, from outside Sadler’s Wells on Rosebery Avenue, ending at New River Head. Saturday 19 and Sunday 20, both 13:00 to 15:00.
- Thornhill Square, from the main door of St Andrew’s Church, Bridgeman Road, N1. Nine 45-minute walks across Saturday 19 and Sunday 20. The listing says you can turn up on the day.
Two free days at a paying museum
The Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art, 39a Canonbury Square, is normally a paid ticket. Its listing says admission is free on Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 September for the festival, 11:00 to 18:00 on the Saturday and 12:00 to 17:00 on the Sunday. There are also five short guided tours of Northampton Lodge, the 1807 house the collection occupies, across the two days.
Everything on the Islington list
| Place | Where | When |
|---|---|---|
| Barnsbury Flat | 63C Richmond Avenue, N1 0LX | Sat 12: 10:00 to 16:30 |
| Calamity and civility: contrasts in Clerkenwell | Charterhouse Square, outside Charterhouse, EC1M 6AN | Sat 12: booked, 10:30 to 12:15 |
| Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art | 39a Canonbury Square, N1 2AN | Sat 12: 11:00 to 18:00, plus 3 booked tours Sun 13: 12:00 to 17:00, plus 2 booked tours |
| National Youth Theatre | 443-445 Holloway Road, N7 6LW | Sat 12: 11:00 to 17:00 Sun 13: 11:00 to 17:00 Wed 16: booked tour, 18:00 |
| Obra | Regent's Wharf, 10 All Saints Street, N1 9RL | Sat 12: 10:30 to 16:30 Sun 13: 10:30 to 15:00 |
| Pollard Thomas Edwards, Diespeker Wharf | Diespeker Wharf, 38 Graham Street, N1 8JX | Sat 12: 10:00 to 16:00 |
| Rufford Mews Apartment | Unit 9, Rufford Mews, N1 0AD | Sat 12: 12:00 to 18:00 Sun 13: 12:00 to 18:00 |
| St Paul's Waldorf School | 1 St Paul's Road, N1 2QH | Sat 12: 11:00 to 15:00 |
| St Joseph's Church and Quiet Garden | Lamb's Buildings, Lamb's Passage, EC1Y 8LD | Sat 12: 10:00 to 17:00 |
| 11 Hungerford Road | 11 Hungerford Road, N7 9LA | Sun 13: 11 booked tours, 12:00 to 17:30 |
| Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration, New River Head | Rear of 28 Amwell Street, Clerkenwell | Sun 13: 11:00 to 16:00, plus booked tour and talk Sat 19: 11:00 to 16:00, plus booked tour and talk |
| The Fleet beneath your feet | Farringdon station, Cowcross Street, EC1M 6BY | Sun 13: booked, 11:00 to 13:00 |
| Islington New River walking tour | Outside Canonbury station, Wallace Road, N1 2PG | Tue 15: booked, 13:30 to 16:00 Sat 19: booked, 12:00 to 14:30 |
| Crafts Council Gallery | 44a Pentonville Road, N1 9BY | Wed 16: 11:00 to 15:00, plus 2 booked store tours |
| Wesley's Chapel and House | 49 City Road, EC1Y 1AU | Thu 17: 11:00 to 15:00 |
| 44 Monsell Road | 44 Monsell Road, N4 2EJ | Sat 19: 10:00 to 17:00 |
| Georgian Clerkenwell's speculative housing boom | Outside Sadler's Wells, Rosebery Avenue, EC1R 4TN | Sat 19: booked, 13:00 to 15:00 Sun 20: booked, 13:00 to 15:00 |
| MEplace Nursery Islington | 1 Britannia Row, N1 8QH | Sat 19: 7 booked tours, 10:00 to 16:30 |
| Museum of the Order of St John | St John's Gate, St John's Lane, EC1M 4DA | Sat 19: 13:00 to 18:00 |
| Olden Community Garden | Whistler Street, opposite no 22, N5 1NJ | Sat 19: 11:00 to 15:00 |
| Paxton Locher House | 8-9 Clerkenwell Green, EC1R 0DE | Sat 19: 10:00 to 17:00 Sun 20: 10:00 to 17:00 |
| RC Church of St Mellitus | Tollington Park, N4 3AG | Sat 19: 13:00 to 16:30 Sun 20: 13:00 to 16:30 |
| Straw-ctural Designers | Canal Building, Regents Wharf, 10 to 18 All Saints Street, N1 9RL | Sat 19: 10:00 to 17:00 |
| The London Archives | 40 Northampton Road, Clerkenwell, EC1R 0HB | Sat 19: 5 booked tours, 10:05 to 15:05 |
| The Old Fire Station | 84 Mayton Street, N7 8HA | Sat 19: 12:00 to 15:00 Sun 20: 12:00 to 15:00 |
| Thornhill Square | Main door of St Andrew's Church, Bridgeman Road, N1 1BQ | Sat 19: 6 walks, 10:00 to 16:45 Sun 20: 3 walks, 14:00 to 16:45 |
| Union Chapel | 19b Compton Terrace, N1 2UN | Sat 19: 11:00 to 21:00, plus booked tours, recital and workshops |
| WilkinsonEyre | 28 Leonard Street, EC2A 4BY | Sat 19: 10:00 to 16:00 |
| Chabad-Lubavitch of Islington | 1-3 Elliott's Place, N1 8HX | Sun 20: 10:00 to 14:00 |
| Parkland Walk | Parkland Walk, N4 3EY | A walking workshop on ecology and urban space. The listing page would not load when we checked; see the programme for the date. |
What it means for you
Booking. Sixteen of the 29 dated entries are drop-in only, so you turn up in the hours listed and go in. The other 13 have at least one activity you book in advance, and Open House requires a free visitor account before you can take a ticket. Register on the Open House Festival site rather than waiting until the morning.
Getting there. Clerkenwell and Farringdon carry the biggest cluster, and the Circle line has no service between Edgware Road and Aldgate via Victoria on Saturday 12 and Sunday 13, which affects Circle journeys from Farringdon and Barbican towards Victoria and Westminster. Farringdon itself keeps its service. There are no planned Northern, Victoria or Piccadilly line closures across the festival. Our roadworks and travel page has the current works, and Islington tube and train times has the stations and zones.
Driving is the wrong answer here. Almost every address on the list sits in a controlled parking zone, several are inside low traffic neighbourhoods, and the Clerkenwell ones are close to the Congestion Charge boundary. See parking in Islington before you set off.
If you can only do one day. Saturday 19 is the day with fifteen openings, and Union Chapel, the Museum of the Order of St John, The London Archives, Paxton Locher House and the New River Head site are all on it. They are all within a few stops of each other on the A1 corridor.
Frequently asked questions
When is Open House 2026 in London?
The Open House Festival runs from Saturday 12 to Sunday 20 September 2026. Islington’s entries are spread unevenly across those nine days, with fifteen of them on Saturday 19 September and nothing at all in the borough on Monday 14 or Friday 18.
How many Islington buildings are open for Open House 2026?
Thirty, on Open House’s own borough listing. They range from Union Chapel and St John’s Gate to five private homes, a community garden, a nursery and five walking tours.
Is Open House free?
Yes. Every entry is free, including the ones that need a ticket. The Estorick Collection, which normally charges, is free on Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 September for the festival.
Do I need to book for Open House in Islington?
For sixteen of the twenty-nine dated Islington entries, no: you turn up within the hours listed. Thirteen have at least one activity that needs a ticket booked in advance, and you have to create a free Open House visitor account before you can book one.
Which is the best day for Open House in Islington?
Saturday 19 September, by volume. Fifteen of the thirty open that day, including Union Chapel, the Museum of the Order of St John, The London Archives, Paxton Locher House and the Quentin Blake Centre at New River Head.
Related
- Things to do in Islington: what is on across the borough.
- Islington roadworks and travel: current closures before you travel.
- Islington planning news: what is being built and where.
Sources
- Open House Festival programme and map, checked 7 September 2026, for the festival dates, the borough tag on every entry, the addresses, the opening days and times and which activities require a booking. All 30 entries listed here are ones Open House itself records as being in Islington.
- Individual Open House listings for each venue, for the descriptions, the tour times and the access notes.
- Open City, the charity that runs the festival.
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