Free virtual backgrounds show off England's stunning heritage

25/02/2021

Inside a room with desk, book case and fire place in background

Credit: Elizabeth Gaskell House

Free images of some of England's most beautiful venues are available to use as backdrops to video-calls as part of the government’s #HereforCulture campaign.

Venues that received Culture Recovery Fund for Heritage awards, distributed by The National Lottery Heritage Fund in partnership with Historic England, have shared some of their most stunning images for use as virtual backgrounds.

Inside The Painted Hall of The Old Royal Navy College, Greenwich — Epic grandeur at The Painted Hall. Credit: Matthew Dickens, ImageComms

You can now choose to meet in the drawing room where Elizabeth Gaskell took tea with luminaries such as Charles Dickens and Charlotte Bronte, or you can enjoy London’s oldest botanic garden, Chelsea Physic Garden, without leaving the comfort of your home.

The venues come in all shapes and sizes. Your small secretive gatherings can take place in the gloomy confines of Bodmin Jail, whilst huge get-togethers will find plenty of space in The Painted Hall in Greenwich.

Inside Bodmin Jail: dusty bottles, kettles and a lamp resting on shelves covered in cobwebs — Bodmin Jail is the perfect setting for intimate meetings. Credit: Bodmin Jail Attraction

Download your background

The full selection of beautiful interiors, buildings and landscapes can be downloaded from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport's #HereForCulture website.

All the venues have received funding from the government's £1.57billion Culture Recovery Fund, made available to support the arts, culture and heritage industries in England through the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.