British World Heritage Sites

Established by UNESCO in 1972 to protect the world's natural and cultural heritage, the list of World Heritage sites lists an incredible 28 sites all worth visiting for their natural beauty, cultural significance, and historic interest.

Photo Credit: David Ball - www.davidball.net

The list of World Heritage Sites was established by UNESCO (the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization) in 1972 to protect the world's natural and cultural heritage. The United Kingdom boasts 28 sites, which are all worth visiting for their beauty, cultural significance, and historical interest.

London and South East England

The Tower of London is a typical example of Norman military architecture, built on the Thames by William the Conqueror to protect London and demonstrate regal power. The nearby Westminster Abbey, Westminster Palace and St. Margaret's Church are a celebration of gothic architecture, with the Abbey containing the graves of most of England's kings and queens.

Further down the Thames, Maritime Greenwich consists of the Old Royal Naval College, the Queen's House, the National Maritime Museum and Royal Observatory, Greenwich Royal Park, the Ranger's House and the historic town centre. They all symbolize English artistic and scientific endeavour in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

For nature lovers, there's the Royal Botanic Gardens of Kew, containing the largest collection of living plants in the world. Or further east, lovers of history and architecture can marvel at Canterbury Cathedral, St. Augustine's Abbey, and St. Martin's Church, the oldest in England.

South England

Stonehenge and the nearby site of Avebury were two of the first chosen as World Heritage Sites in the UK because of the importance of their megaliths in prehistoric times. Further west, the City of Bath, with its Roman baths and eighteenth-century Palladian Architecture, is always a popular tourist destination. And if you want to experience nature at its most beautiful, visit the Dorset and East Devon Coast, otherwise known as the Jurassic Coast. Documenting 185 million years of our planet's history, this 95-mile stretch of coast is famous for its rock formations and fossils.

South West England

The Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape was transformed in the eighteenth and nineteenth century by tin mining and industrialised copper. Here you can visit museums dedicated to the history of the mines, railways, canals, and engine houses, dotted along these shores.

Central England

Blenheim Palace is the Oxfordshire home of the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough, and the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill. It is visited not only for its magnificent gardens, designed by Capability Brown, but also for the contents of the building and the numerous works of art within. The Picturesque Ironbridge Gorge in Shropshire has become a symbol of the Industrial Revolution. Many visitors travel to see the iron bridge across the River Severn, the first of its kind in the world. In Derbyshire, you can visit the Derwent Valley Mills, the site of the first English cotton mills, with buildings now open to the public.

Wales

The Blaenavon Industrial Landscape is famous for the old coal mines and ironworks, with museums to visit in the town itself. Pontycysyllte Aqueduct and canal in north Wales is a breathtaking masterpiece of engineering from the Industrial Revolution, conceived by the renowned civil engineer Thomas Telford. For impressive views and inspiring architecture, the Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd are definitely worth visiting, with Conwy, Harlech, Caernarfon, and Beaumaris castles to choose from.

North England

Liverpool has the restored Albert Dock, with restaurants, shops, and the Tate Liverpool - the most visited gallery of modern and contemporary art outside London. The village of Saltaire in West Yorkshire is a prime example of a Victorian industrial village, and attracts millions of visitors to its stunning architecture. A large collection of David Hockney's art can also be found here. Travel north and you'll find Studley Royal Park, including the Ruins of Fountains Abbey. Here you can visit an outstanding neo-gothic castle, an Elizabethan mansion, a medieval deer park, and a Georgian water garden. Further north you will find Durham Castle and Cathedral, the largest and finest examples of Norman architecture in England.

Scotland

Much of the 73-mile Hadrian's Wall has disappeared, but it is now the site of a national walking trail. The village of New Lanark in the glorious Scottish landscape is where philanthropist Robert Owen created a model industrial community in the early nineteenth century. Edinburgh Old and New Towns contain some of the most beautiful buildings in Europe, such as the imposing Edinburgh Castle and the outstanding Georgian architecture of the New Town. The Heart of Neolithic Orkney, off the coast of north-east Scotland contains some of Britain's best preserved prehistoric monuments, such as the Standing Stones of Stenness. To the west of Scotland is St. Kilda. With some of the highest cliffs in Europe, it is an outstanding area of natural beauty, supporting large colonies of endangered seabirds.

Northern Ireland

Along the north-east coast of Northern Ireland is the Giant's Causeway and Causeway Coast. The Giant's Causeway is a dramatic and beautiful area of 40,000 interlocking basalt columns caused by a volcanic eruption, enjoyed by millions of tourists each year.

Other Islands

In the South Pacific, Henderson Island is renowned for its important species of plants and birds in a near-perfect ecosystem. To see the earliest example of an English urban settlement in the New World, visit the Historic town of St. George in Bermuda. The forts here are great examples of some of the first defensive buildings of the era.

With such extraordinary cultural and historical treasures on our doorstep, perhaps we should spend more time promoting the unique presence and significance of these World Heritage Sites.