You can visit England’s oldest public art gallery for free this month

You’ll be able to visit England’s oldest public art gallery, featuring work from Gainsborough and Van Dyck, entirely for free this month.

Running from March 7 to March 15, National Lottery Open Week offers people across the UK the chance to see some incredible sites of history for free or significantly cheaper, with hundreds of historic buildings that received funding from the National Lottery opening their doors to the public.

Taking part in the week is Dulwich Picture Gallery, known as England’s oldest public art gallery, dating back to 1817 when it first opened. The gallery was designed by Regency architect Sir John Soane.

The gallery features works from the likes of Gainsborough and Van Dyke. (Image: Graham Turner)

Widely regarded as the world’s first purpose-built public art gallery, Dulwich Picture Gallery was founded with a clear mission: to make great art available “for the inspection of the public”.

Soane’s innovative design features a sequence of low, interlinked galleries lit from above by skylights, a revolutionary approach at the time, allowing controlled natural light to fall directly onto the paintings.

Today, the gallery houses more than 600 historic European paintings dating from the 1500s to the 1800s.

It also features a recently revamped sculpture gallery in the garden. (Image: Graham Turner)

It is has Dutch and Flemish works, including pieces by Rembrandt, Rubens and Van Dyck, as well as Italian masterpieces by Canaletto and Raphael, and British art including Thomas Gainsborough’s “Mrs Elizabeth Moody with her sons Samuel and Thomas”.

The collection has long attracted artists for study, with Constable, Turner and even Vincent van Gogh among those known to have visited in their early careers.

The gallery dates back to 1817. (Image: Graham Turner)

The gardens include a free-to-access Sculpture Garden featuring contemporary works by artists such as Rob and Nick Carter and Peter Randall Page.

How to get free entry

Normally priced at £10 to see the collection, the gallery will open its collection for free from March 10 until March 15.

Visitors will be able to enter for free on the selected days by booking online or onsite in person, with the gallery open Tuesday to Sunday between 10am and 5pm.

Visitors will be asked to show proof of a National Lottery ticket, scratchcard or Instant Win Game to gain access as a family group.