Visit County Durham has launched a national marketing campaign aimed at promoting the county's rich and fascinating heritage. 

Visitors are invited to step back in time and experience Durham's heritage through award-winning attractions, enthralling exhibitions and exciting events lined up over coming weeks at sites including the world-renowned Durham Cathedral and Castle UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the heart of Durham City, and also the award-winning Beamish Museum.

Be one of the first to explore Durham Cathedral's Magna Carta and The Forest Charters exhibition, set in the Collections Gallery of the Open Treasure exhibition space. The exhibition will run from 19 June to 9 September.  The Great Kitchen, meanwhile, will host the Treasures of St Cuthbert, a permanent collection of Anglo Saxon artefacts (from 29 July). The centrepiece will be the wooden coffin, now more than 1,300 years old, in which St Cuthbert travelled around Northern England.

Try a spot of time travelling at Durham University's Palace Green Library, the venue for fascinating new exhibition, Time Machines: the past, the future, and how stories take us there (27 May to 3 September). It is a celebration of HG Wells' first novel, The Time Machine, and visitors can see the author's original manuscript for the book.

The world-famous open-air Beamish Museum tells the intriguing story of life in North East England during the 1820s, 1900s and 1940s. Summertime brings a programme of special events at the museum, including the Georgian Fair (1-4 June), Festival of 50s (6-9 July), and Great North Festival of Agriculture (31 August-1 October).

To find out more, visit: thisisdurham.com/heritage 

If you are a journalist interested in experiencing Durham's heritage - then please make contact to discuss further.