Tag: Beneath This Ground

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Heritage Open Days 2026 at Ballast Hills

Saturday, 19 September 2026
Brinkburn St Brewery and Ballast Hills Burial Ground

Join us for a full day of free events exploring the everyday histories of Ballast Hills Burial Ground. Used from about 1640 to 1853, Ballast Hills became the resting place of more than 40,000 people from varied religious and social backgrounds.

Our Heritage Open Days programme will bring some of their stories into view through archives, activities, brewing history, self-guided exploration, music, poetry, and an atmospheric twilight visit. Visitors are welcome to attend one event or combine several across the day. Download A5 Flyer here.

Everyday Histories at Ballast Hills

10.30 am to 2.00 pm
Brinkburn St Brewery
Drop in, no booking required

Explore maps, burial records, gravestone inscriptions, family-history activities, learning resources, and local stories. We will be available to answer questions and introduce some of the people and communities connected with Ballast Hills.

Brinkburn Brewery Tours

11.00 am, 12.00 noon, and 1.00 pm
Brinkburn St Brewery
Advance booking required

Tour the working brewery and discover local brewing history alongside a small display about brewing-related occupations represented among the people buried at Ballast Hills. Each tour lasts 45 minutes, places are limited, and participants must be aged 18 or over.

Explore Ballast Hills

2.30 to 4.00 pm
Ballast Hills Burial Ground
Drop in, no booking required

Try the redeveloped Ballast Hills Explorer’s Guide, follow the trail at your own pace, or speak with guides stationed around the site. This session offers a relaxed way to explore the gravestone pathway, hear stories, and ask questions.

Beneath This Ground

4.00 to 5.00 pm
Ballast Hills Burial Ground
No booking required

Experience original poetry and fiddle music by Marina Dodgson, Maurice Condie, and Harry Gallagher. This site-specific performance draws on the lives, losses, working experiences, and memories of people buried at Ballast Hills. Visitors may wish to bring a portable chair or blanket.

Twilight at Ballast Hills

6.30 to 7.30 pm
Ballast Hills Burial Ground
Drop in, no booking required

Return at dusk for an informal exploration of the burial ground. Guides will share stories along the gravestone pathway while visitors move through the site at their own pace.

Plan Your Visit

All events are free. Only the brewery tours require advance booking.

The burial ground events take place outdoors, and some areas are uneven. Please wear suitable footwear, dress for the weather, and remember that all visitors under 18 must be accompanied by an adult.

Please also explore the wider Heritage Open Days programme and discover the many other free events taking place across Newcastle and the surrounding area.

We look forward to welcoming you for a day of discovery, creativity, conversation, and everyday histories.

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Celebrating Curiosity: Recognition, Evidence, People, and Protection

On 15 June, volunteers, project partners, researchers, performers, and community supporters gathered at Brinkburn St Brewery to celebrate what curiosity has made possible at Ballast Hills Burial Ground. The event marked the close of the AHRC Curiosity Award phase, but not the end of the work.

The presentation focused on four themes: recognition, evidence, people, and protection. The project has helped to make Ballast Hills more visible as a burial landscape, heritage asset, and place of memory, while drawing together evidence from maps, registers, gravestone inscriptions, archives, geophysical surveys, laser scanning, and onsite recording.

The work has also begun to reconnect names in the records with families, occupations, neighbourhoods, descendants, and the wider history of Newcastle. Volunteers made much of this possible, contributing more than 1000 hours, student interns, and project partners.

Music and poetry from Beneath This Ground, performed by Marina Dodgson, Maurice Condie, and Harry Gallagher, formed a memorable part of the evening. Guests also explored project handouts, shared conversations, and enjoyed Ballast Hills Brown muffins and Ballast Hills Brown Ale, created with Brinkburn St Brewery.

The evening also recognised the project’s 2026 Newcastle University Engagement & Place Award for Engaging for Cultural Benefit. The final theme, protection, looked ahead to the continuing need for research, documentation, partnership working, and long-term care.

We are grateful to everyone who attended and to all those who contributed their time, knowledge, creativity, and support.

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Celebrating Curiosity at Ballast Hills

The Ballast Hills Burial Ground project will mark the close of the current AHRC Curiosity Award funding period with a Celebrating Curiosity gathering on Monday, 15 June 2026. Although this particular funding period is coming to an end, work at Ballast Hills will continue through further research, volunteering, public engagement, and partnership activity.

The evening is open to everyone with an interest in Ballast Hills, local history, heritage, poetry, music, community research, or the wider stories connected with the burial ground. Whether you have volunteered, attended previous events, followed the project online, recently heard about the site, or are simply curious to learn more, you are warmly invited to join us.

The programme will include music and poetry from Maurice Condie, Marina Dodgson, and Harry Gallagher, who will share selections from Beneath This Ground. Myra Giesen, Project Lead, will provide an overview of the project and its achievements, alongside special acknowledgements and time to chat, reconnect, and meet others interested in the project.

The celebration will also include the launch of Ballast Hills Brown Ale, honouring brewing histories connected with the site.

Date: Monday, 15 June 2026
Time: 17:30 to 20:30
Arrival from: 17:00
Location: Brinkburn St Brewery, Ouseburn, NE6 1NW

This is a free event, but booking is essential. Book your free ticket here: Celebration of Curiosity

Light snacks, cake and fruit will be provided, while drinks will be available to purchase from the bar. Guests are encouraged to arrive early, with the option to visit Ballast Hills Burial Ground (it is diagonally across the street) before the main event and spend time at the site.

Please feel free to invite a friend, forward the invitation, or share the registration link with anyone who may be interested.

All are welcome.

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Heritage Open Days 2025 at Ballast Hills

Heritage Open Days gave us three different ways to explore Ballast Hills this year, each offering a fresh perspective on the site and its history.

Exploring History at 51 Lime Street

Our first event took place at 51 Lime Street, where visitors immersed themselves in the stories of the burial ground. Activity sheets encouraged people to look closely at details, while Gary offered a hands-on lesson in family history research. A slideshow traced the site’s long and complex past, linking it to the ongoing work of the project. Visitors also had the chance to see a selection of objects uncovered during recent pathway work. These finds most likely came from a historic rubbish dump upslope rather than being directly connected to the burials themselves, but they nevertheless shed light on the changing use of the surrounding landscape.

Events on Site at Ballast Hills

Despite persistent rain, two further events were held outdoors on site. Visitors braved the weather to explore the burial ground using our new Explorer’s Guide, which highlights gravestone inscriptions, pathway segments, and the wider landscape of the ground. Then, as the skies cleared, the atmosphere shifted. Poetry and music performed by Marina, Maurice, and Harry filled the space, weaving words and sounds into the very fabric of Ballast Hills. Experiencing these performances within the site itself created a strong and tangible connection with the past. Numbers were smaller than hoped, but those who attended were deeply engaged, with many discovering Ballast Hills for the first time.

Activities that Spark Reflection

Many visitors particularly enjoyed puzzling over family trees and taking home “design your own gravestone” sheets. These simple activities encouraged people to reflect on ancestry, memory, and how lives are commemorated. They sparked thoughtful conversations, showing how creative approaches can open up discussion about history, heritage, and identity.

Thank You

Events like these depend on the generosity and creativity of many people. We extend heartfelt thanks to Gary, Lynn, Jen, and Steve for volunteering their time and expertise, and to Marina, Maurice, and Harry for their moving performances. Thanks also to John, who kindly documented the events in photographs, which we look forward to sharing soon.

Looking Ahead

Heritage Open Days are about more than single moments. They open doors to hidden stories, connect people with overlooked places, and put sites like Ballast Hills onto a wider map of heritage and memory. This year’s programme showed just how powerful those connections can be. We look forward to welcoming even more people next year for another round of discovery and reflection.