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Celebrating 400 Years of Sir Francis Bacon
This website has been created to provide information about the events and celebrations taking place around the world for the 400th anniversary of Sir Francis Bacon’s death.
400 YEARS ON
2026: A Significant Commemoration
2026 marks the 400th anniversary of the death of Sir Francis Bacon, one of history’s greatest philosophers, scientists, and statesmen. As his home and final resting place, St Albans will be the focal point for global commemorations, featuring lectures, exhibitions, and community activities that celebrate his enduring legacy.
From groundbreaking contributions to the scientific method to his influence on modern thought, this anniversary is an opportunity to reflect on Bacon’s impact and explore his lasting significance in today’s world.
- Global Events: Major international commemorations
- Local Events in St Albans Talks, tours, exhibitions, and services
- Academic Conferences: University-led discussions on Bacon’s works
- Exhibitions & Art Displays: Paintings, manuscripts, and artifacts on display
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Explore Our Website
Navigate the key events and resources celebrating the 400th anniversary of Sir Francis Bacon’s legacy.
Upcoming Events
Throughout the year there will be events to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the death of Francis Bacon. See this section for more details and to find an event near you.
History of Francis Bacon
Click here to learn more about the life and legacy of Francis Bacon.
Our partners
Bacon400 is being supported by many organisations and individuals. Click here to find out about some of them.
- 22.01.2026
- 19.00
- Gorhambury House
Bacon 400 Fireside Talk with Suzannah Lipscomb and Jesse Norman
Join Suzannah and Jesse by the fireside in the Great Hall at Gorhambury House in front of Francis Bacon’s portrait and the chimney piece from his Tudor house – Old Gorhambury.
They will discuss the life and times of Francis Bacon – pioneering statesman, essayist and scientific thinker. Francis Bacon is most famous for his work in reforming the way we acquire knowledge, a project that laid the foundation for the modern scientific method.
The conversation will also touch on Jesse Norman’s historical novel, The Winding Stair, which explores the intense rivalry between Francis Bacon and his political nemesis, Edward Coke. Copies of the book will be available for purchase at the event.
Tickets include a glass of sparkling wine.
Jesse Norman is a politician, philosopher and author of The Winding Stair, who is currently serving as Shadow Leader of the House of Commons.
Suzannah Lipscomb has written and edited several books, presented more than sixty history programmes and series on BBC, ITV, More4, Channel 5 and Netflix, and hosts the successful Not Just the Tudors podcast from History Hit.
£50
Sir Francis Bacon and Gray’s Inn – Tour
- 20.02.2026
- 11.30
- Gray's Inn, London
Step inside Gray’s Inn and explore its historic grounds and rare archive material, including stories connected to Francis Bacon.
The tour of the Estate is planned to cover the Walks, Chapel, Library, Hall, Small Pension Room, Large Pension Room and Benchers Library.
There is also the option to have lunch in the Inn Dining Hall, for which there is an additional cost of £22.
£50
Joint Evensong with St Michael’s Church, Trinity College Cambridge & St Albans School choirs
- 18.03.2026
- 17.00
- St Michael's Church, St Albans
Sir Francis Bacon was closely associated with each of the three organisations represented in the choirs at this service of Evensong; St Albans School was re-founded by his father, Bacon was a graduate of Trinity College Cambridge, and he was patron of and buried in St Michael’s church.
With music and liturgy that Bacon would have known, all are welcome to this service of Choral Evensong.
FREE
Bacon, author of the modern world? A discussion with Mark Rylance & Peter Dawkins
- 09.04.2025
- 14.00
- St Michael's Church, St Albans
On this day of his death, we meet in St Michael’s Church to discuss the legacy of Francis Bacon; his impact on the modern world, and to hear readings from his work.
Tickets will be available from February 2026.
£TBC
The Assembly Room - St Albans Museum and Gallery
- 09.04.2026
- 07.09.2026
- St Albans Museum and Galley - The Assembly Rooms
All are invited to the Assembly Rooms in St Albans for a family-friendly exhibition looking at Bacon’s scientific work and legacy.
FREE
Exhibition: Francis Bacon – A Man of His Time or a Man for All Time?
- 13.04.2026
- 07.05.2026
- St Albans Cathedral North Transept
This display in the North Transept of St Albans Cathedral is free to all and explores the ‘Essays’ of Francis Bacon, each of which reflects on an aspect of human life from birth to death, marriage to the idea of self.
FREE
‘Nichodemites and Nonconformists’ The Bacons and Religious Change in Tudor England
- 25.04.2026
- St Albans Cathedral Alban Room
As St Albans celebrates the 400th anniversary of the celebrated statesman and philosopher Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban, Lady Deborah Spring explores how the Bacon family negotiated and survived the roller coaster of religious upheavals across the reigns of Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I, and into the reign of James I.
Active in religious reform during the reign of the boy king Edward VI, the Bacon family employed careful tactics to negotiate the perils of Catholic Mary’s reign. During the reign of Elizabeth, with England once more a Protestant country, the widowed Lady Anne Bacon gave refuge at their estate in Gorhambury, just on the edge of St Albans, to the dissident Puritan preachers of Hertfordshire and with the support of her son Francis and brother-in-law Lord Burghley, campaigned vigorously on their behalf. This talk highlights the extraordinary story of how this leading local family successfully navigated a dangerous era of tumultuous political and religious change.
A joint lecture hosted by Adult Learning and the Friends of St Albans Cathedral. Part of the Francis Bacon 400th anniversary programme.
£6-12
'Walking Bacon's Gorhambury' Walk 1: with Viscountess Grimston & the Countess of Verulam
- 14.05.2026
- Gorhambury House and Grounds
The first of three specially curated Gorhambury tours & walks celebrating the life of Sir Francis Bacon, 400 years after his death in 1626. This walk has more of a focus on the Baconian treasures in the collection at Gorhambury House and is the least physically challenging.
Visitors will start at Gorhambury House touring the state rooms and other rooms housing Baconian works. Some works are not on regular view and vary from Bacon family portraits, historic depictions of Old Gorhambury, architectural features from Francis Bacon’s house and his garden design.
For those walking, we will progress through the gardens of the 18th century house, through paddocks at the back to Old Gorhambury where will spend some time looking at what is left of the Tudor House and getting a sense of how the gardens were laid out. We will return to Gorhambury through Gilpin’s woods. If there are any who don’t feel mobile enough to complete the walk, they are welcome to drive from Gorhambury to Old Gorhambury and back.
This tour and walk will last from 1.5-2 hours.
Kit List – Indoor shoes, walking boots and weather appropriate clothing.
£25
Talk by Lucy Hughes-Hallett: 'The Scandal' Bacon and Buckingham.
- 19.05.2026
- Lower Dagnall Street Baptist Church
From the author of the Baillie Gifford Prize, the Duff Cooper Prize and the Costa Biography of the Year Award, this talk examines the relationship between Bacon and James I’s mercurial favourite, George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham. What role did Buckingham play in Bacon’s demise? What did it mean to play politics in the world of the Jacobean court?
£TBC
Sir Francis Bacon’s ‘Greater Perfection’ and his love of gardens and plants, with Paula Henderson
- 25.06.2026
- Serge Hill, Bedmond, St Albans
2026 marks the 400th anniversary of the death of Sir Francis Bacon, one of history’s greatest philosophers, scientists, and statesmen. As his home and final resting place, St Albans will be the focal point for Bacon400 global commemorations, featuring a wide programme of lectures, exhibitions, and community activities that celebrate his enduring legacy.
Join us for an unmissable evening in The Apple House, with architectural and garden historian and award-winning author Paula Henderson as she celebrates Sir Francis Bacon’s passion for and expertise on plants. An evening which will appeal to gardeners, garden designers, history lovers and anyone with a passion for plants and gardens.
This event is run in association with Hertfordshire Gardens Trust and as part of the Bacon400 celebrations.
£45
