English Heritage, a prominent UK charity responsible for many of the country's historic sites, has come under fire for omitting the Christian roots of Easter in a booklet designed for children.

Instead, their Easter Adventure Quest—hosted at locations like Whitby Abbey and Dover Castle—portrays the holiday as purely a springtime celebration, with references to the pagan goddess Eostre.

The material handed out to children states: “Easter started as a celebration of spring,” and credits Eostre with the holiday’s name, mentioning flower-decorating and bonfire dances—but not the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The accompanying trail includes Easter eggs and bunny rabbits, yet nowhere mentions the Christian story of the Cross and the empty tomb which have been celebrated in  England for 1,300 years.

Its celebration dates back to the 3rd and 4th century when Christianity began to spread in the British Isles during Roman rule.

Reporting in The Daily Telegraph concerned visitors, including parents and educators, voiced disappointment. Phil, chairman of governors at a Catholic primary school in Kent, said: “Christianity is central to what Easter is. There was no explanation of Christ’s resurrection—I had to explain it myself to my 7-year-old son.”

Others on social media echoed the sentiment, calling for at least a “passing mention” of the Christian Easter message.

In 2017, the National Trust was also accused of downplaying Christian heritage at some of its historic sites and events, again removing the term 'Easter' from promotional materials on an egg hunt. The decision was criticised by the Archbishop of York and the then Prime Minister Theresa May.  

John Sentamu accused Cadbury's Chocolate and the National Trust of "spitting on the grave" of its Quaker founder by changing the “National Trust Easter Egg Trail Supported by Cadbury” to “The Cadbury Egg hunt at the National Trust”.

The National Trust said they do recognise Easter but were aiming to be to be inclusive.

English Heritage have also defended the trail, claiming it was part of a wider educational efforts and only one element in a series explaining the origins of Easter to children.

Their website does acknowledge the Christian origins of Easter and references the Synod of Whitby in 664 AD, where early church leaders agreed on how to calculate Easter’s date. A separate post also notes that 16th-century egg hunts had symbolic connections to the Resurrection.