UK World Heritage Sites
Posted: 2009-06-28
The news that the Pontcysyllte aqueduct has been awarded Unesco World Heritage Site status made me wonder what other UK sites had been awarded this recognition. It's a pretty impressive list. I've copied it here, with links to appropriate information within and without the BritainExpress.com website.
- Avebury - the prehistoric landscape around Avebury contains stone circles, standing stones, henges, stone rows, and burial mounds covering thousands of years.
- Blaenavon Industrial Landscape - Welsh mining heritage is preserved at Blaenavon, including coal and ore mines, quarries, railways, blast furnaces, and worker's cottages.
- Blenheim Palace - Sir John Vanbrugh's baroque masterpiece, created for the Duke of Marlborough on the orders of Queen Anne, as a nice little thank you for the Duke's success in her European wars.
- Canterbury Cathedral, St. Augustine's Abbey and St. Martin's Church - One of the great medieval cathedrals in England, and a site of pilgrimage since 12th-century archbishop Thomas a Becket was murdered in front of the altar.
- Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd - Edward I was a profligate builder in his attempts to subdue the Welsh. His castles in North Wales broke new ground in construction and defensive design, often incorporating walls to create a planned settlement defended by the castle.
- Bath - from its origins as the Roman Aquae Sulis, Bath retains a wonderful mix of Roman, medieval, and Georgian architecture.
- Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape - (external website) - the cultural landscape of the west country, primarily covering old mines and mine buildings from the years 1700 to 1914.
- Derwent Valley Mills - (external website) - a historic section of the River Derwent, the birthplace of the 18th-century factory system of water mills for textile production.
- Dorset and East Devon Coast - primarily taking in the Jurassic Coast, so named for its rich deposits of fossils.
- Durham Castle and Cathedral - the twin medieval treasures stand atop high ground overlooking the River Wear.
- Edinburgh Old and New Towns - (external website) - taking in the Royal Mile between Holyrood Palace and Edinburgh Castle.
- Giant's Causeway and Causeway Coast - (external website) - Northern Ireland's most famous visitor attraction includes the wonderful basalt columns of the Giant's Causeway.
- Gough Island Wildlife Reserve - external website - an uninhabited island in the South Atlantic
- Hadrian's Wall - stretching across the north of England from coast to coast is the Emperor Hadrian's attempt to guard the frontiers of Roman Britain.
- Heart of Neolithic Orkney - including the stone circles of Stenness and Brodgar, and the burial mound of Maes Howe.
- Henderson Island - (external link) - only technically part of this UK list - a coral island in the Pacific still claimed by Britain.
- Historic Town of St George, Bermuda - (external link) - another technical inclusion!
- Ironbridge Gorge - the famous iron bridge was a massively influential engineering achievement.
- Liverpool - (external website) - the maritime heritage of Merseyside commemorated.
- Maritime Greenwich - home of the Greenwich Meridian, and Inigo Jones's Royal Naval College.
- New Lanark - a restored 18th-century cotton mill village
- Royal Botanic Gardens of Kew - perhaps the foremost botanic garden in the world, certainly one of the earliest and most influential.
- Saltaire - (external link) - a Yorkshire planned village, built by Sir Titus Salt.
- Stonehenge - The most famous stone circle in the world.
- Studley Royal Park and Fountains Abbey - a glorious water garden and the grandest medieval abbey in Britain.
- St. Kilda - (external website) - a remote island off Scotland's northwest coast, once home to a unique culture.
- Tower of London - William the Conqueror began the Tower, and it has been home to a royal menagerie, treasury, royal mint, and now, the crown jewels. In between, it has seen executions and held famous and infamous prisoners.
- Westminster Palace and Saint Margaret's Church - including the Victorian Houses of Parliament, medieval Westminster Hall, and the historic church of St Margaret's which stands immediately beside the last site ...
- Westminster Abbey - begun by Edward the Confessor, the preeminent cathedral in Britain.
More:
UK World Heritage portal
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