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United Kingdom of Great Britain UNESCO world heritage sites: south + central + north

Avon county [capital = Bristol]

City of Bath see detail
Founded by the Romans as a thermal spa, Bath became an important centre of the wool industry in the Middle Ages. In the 18th century, under George III, it developed into an elegant town with neoclassical Palladian buildings, which blend harmoniously with the Roman baths.

Bermuda island [capital = St George]

Historic Town of St George see detail
The Town of St George, founded in 1612, is an outstanding example of the earliest English urban settlement in the New World. Its associated fortifications graphically illustrate the development of English military engineering from the 17th to the 20th century, being adapted to take account of the development of artillery over this period.

Cheshire county [capital = Chester]

Jodrell Bank Observatory in Macclesfield at The University of Manchester
This observatory, which is still in operation, includes several radio telescopes and working buildings, including engineering sheds and the Control Building. Jodrell Bank has had substantial scientific impact in fields such as the study of meteors and the moon, the discovery of quasars, quantum optics, and the tracking of spacecraft.

Clwyd county [capital = Mold]

Bryneglwys Slate Quarry, Abergynolwyn Village and the Talyllyn Railway in Llangollen at Horseshoe Pass
The site, which was in operation for just over 100 years, covered almost 2 sq mi (5 km2). It had several long tunnels up to 250 m (820 ft) to 350 m (1,150 ft). However, since closure all buildings have been demolished. Most of its inclines and infrastructure have become part of forestry plantations. From 1866 until closure in 1948, the quarry was served by the narrow gauge Talyllyn Railway, which took the slate down to Tywyn for transfer to the main line railway.

Cornwall county[capital = Truro]

Phoenix United Mine in Liskeard on Linkinhorne
The mine originally extracted copper, the 1850s being the mine's peak production of the metal, with a work force of 130. By the 1860s the copper reserves were diminishing but consultant mining engineer, William West, bought a controlling share in the company and equipped the mine to extract tin in 1864 after samples showed evidence of tin deposits. By 1865 the work force had expanded to 460, continuing to 600 by the 1870s. It used the Liskeard and Caradon Railway to transport the ore away and supply the mine with coal. With the price of tin and copper slumping, the West Phoenix Mine ceased operation in 1898. The final shaft, the Prince of Wales Shaft, was closed in 1914.

Port of Saint Austell at Charlestown
The port was built to facilitate the transport of copper from nearby mines.

Valley of Saint Austell at Luxulyan
The mine was situated to the east of the southern end of the Luxulyan Valley proper, and its site is part of the designated World Heritage Site. At its peak it was worked by six steam engines and 17 water wheels.

Blue Hills in Saint Agnes at Trevellas Coombe
Early tin streamers worked alluvial sands and gravel on the beaches and valley floor. Later miners tunnelled into the hillsides and sunk shafts deep below the valley floor following the tin-rich veins of ore.

Wheal Coates in Saint Agnes on Beacon Drive
There are three engine houses that formerly housed Cornish engines. Towanroath Pumping Engine House (1872) was used to pump water from the adjacent 600 ft Towanroath shaft. There are two Whim engine houses which were used to crush ore for processing. "Old Whim" was built in the mid 19th century, while "New Whim" was built in the late 19th century. A calciner dating from 1910–1913 when the mine was reopened, roasted the tin to remove impurities such as arsenic.

Port of Devoran
Devoran played an important role in the tin and copper mining industry. It developed as a small port engaged in the export of mined minerals and the import of mining materials and coal.

Poldice Mine in Redruth at St Day
Today, the ruins of many mine buildings and mineshafts are visible in the Poldice Valley, which has not seen any further development since the end of mining.

Wheal Peevor Mine in Redruth on Radnor Road
It was originally mined at shallow depths for copper, but when the price for that metal slumped after 1788, the mine was able to change to mining tin ore, which was found deeper down. In the late 18th century Wheal Peevor had the advantage of being drained by the Great County Adit which was around 100 metres deep here.

Harbour in Redruth at Portreath
By 1827 Portreath was described as Cornwall's most important port and Portreath was, with Devoran on the south coast, one of the main ports for sending the copper ore mined in the Gwennap area to Swansea for smelting. The ships returned with Welsh coal to fire the steam engines used on the mines.

East Pool Mine in Redruth at Agar Road, Pool
Today the site has two preserved beam engines.

King Edward Mine in Camborne at Newton Moor
King Edward Mine is the oldest complete mining site left in Cornwall. Whilst designed for education purposes it demonstrates, on a small scale, all that would have been found on the best Cornish mine at the turn of the century.

Tregonning, Gwinear and Wendron Mining counties in Helston at Poldark Mine + Trewavas Mine
The remains of mines, engines houses, smallholdings, ports, harbours, canals, railways, tramroads, and industries allied to mining, along with new towns and villages reflect an extended period of industrial expansion and prolific innovation. Together these are testimony, in an inter-linked and highly legible way, to the sophistication and success of early, large-scale, industrialised non-ferrous hard-rock mining.

Port of Hayle
The townscape of Hayle and its historic harbour were part of the initial submission of the Cornwall and West Devon historic mining landscape World Heritage bid.

St Just mining district in Pendeen at Levant Mine + Geevor Tin Mine
Perched high above the Atlantic in some incredible locations; the engine houses on this stretch of coast, known as the “Tin Coast”, are some of the most famous.

Cumbria county [capital = Carlisle]

Birdoswald Roman Fort in Brampton at Gilsland, Hadrian's Wall Path
It is one of the best preserved of the 16 forts along Hadrian's Wall. The fort is situated in a commanding position on a triangular spur of land bounded by cliffs to the south and east overlooking a broad meander of the River Irthing in Cumbria.

National Park in Lake county on A591
The combined work of nature and human activity has produced a harmonious landscape in which the mountains are mirrored in the lakes. Grand houses, gardens and parks have been purposely created to enhance the landscape’s beauty.

Ravenglass Roman Bath House in Ravenglass on Walls Drive
It consisted of a suite of rooms arranged in a double sequence along the building. The entrance and changing area (apodyterium) contains niches, perhaps originally for statues. The use of the other rooms is not known, but there would have been a range of warm rooms, a hot bath and a cold plunge.

Derbyshire county [capital = Matlock]

Cromford Mill in Cromford on Mill Lane
Cromford Mills was founded in 1771 by Sir Richard Arkwright in Cromford, Derbyshire. Arkwright and his mill rose to fame as it became the birthplace of the modern factory system and the first successful water-powered cotton spinning mill in the world.

Lea Mills in Matlock at Lea Bridge
Lea Mills was in ideal setting; the brook that runs through the village provided motive power and a constant source of running water. The Lea Mills factory is still John Smedley’s home, making it the world’s oldest manufacturing factory in continuous operation.

Strutt's North Mill in Belper at Bridge Foot
From 1776, when Jedediah Strutt built his first mill (the South Mill) on the site, until the early 1990s when the English Sewing Cotton Company finally closed down the modern spinning operations in the East Mill, cotton spinning was carried out on the site of the Strutts’ Belper Mills, a span of over two hundred years.

Darley Abbey Mills in Derby on Haslams Lane
In the 18th century, the Evans family developed their planned industrial mill village in the area; Darley Abbey is now part of the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site.

Silk Mill in Derby at 19 Full Street
Derby Silk Mill, formerly known as Derby Industrial Museum, is a museum of industry and history in Derby, England. The museum is located on the former site of Lombe's Mill, a historic silk mill which marks the southern end of the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site.

Devon county [capital = Exeter]

Tamar Valley Mining county from Weir Quay to Dunterton
The new Tamar Trails take a journey along old transport systems such as canals, tramways and railways, and explore the mining history as well as our stunning natural landscapes.

Cliffs from Orcombe Rocks to Chit Rocks + River Sid to Seaton Hole + River Axe to The Cobb
The property's geology displays approximately 185 million years of the Earth's history, including a number of internationally important fossil localities. The property also contains a range of outstanding examples of coastal geomorphological features, landforms and processes, and is renowned for its contribution to earth science investigations for over 300 years, helping to foster major contributions to many aspects of geology, palaeontology and geomorphology.

Dorset county [capital = Dorchester]

Cliffs from Lyme Regis to West Bay + Chesil to Isle of Portland + Bowleaze Cove to Peveril Point to Studland Bay
See above.

Durham county [capital = Durham]

City of Durham at Castle + Cathedral
Durham Cathedral was built in the late 11th and early 12th centuries to house the relics of St Cuthbert (evangelizer of Northumbria) and the Venerable Bede. It attests to the importance of the early Benedictine monastic community and is the largest and finest example of Norman architecture in England. The innovative audacity of its vaulting foreshadowed Gothic architecture. Behind the cathedral stands the castle, an ancient Norman fortress which was the residence of the prince-bishops of Durham.

Gibraltar territory [capital = Gibraltar]

Gorham's Cave Complex in Gibraltar at Europa Advance Batteries, 1st & 2nd, Europa Advance Road
The steep limestone cliffs on the eastern side of the Rock of Gibraltar contain four caves with archaeological and paleontological deposits that provide evidence of Neanderthal occupation over a span of more than 100,000 years. This exceptional testimony to the cultural traditions of the Neanderthals is seen notably in evidence of the hunting of birds and marine animals for food, the use of feathers for ornamentation and the presence of abstract rock engravings. Scientific research on these sites has already contributed substantially to debates about Neanderthal and human evolution.

Glamorgan county [capital = Cardiff]

Industrial Landscape in Blaenavon at Iron Works + Big Pit
The area around Blaenavon is evidence of the pre-eminence of South Wales as the world's major producer of iron and coal in the 19th century. All the necessary elements can still be seen - coal and ore mines, quarries, a primitive railway system, furnaces, workers' homes, and the social infrastructure of their community.

Gwynedd county [capital = Caernarfon]

Ffestiniog Slate Mines, ‘city of slates’ and Railway to Porthmadog in Blaenau Ffestiniog on Baltic Rd
At its peak in 1884 it produced 23,788 tons of finished slate per year and had 513 employees. It continues to produce slate on a limited scale and is the location of the Llechwedd Slate Caverns tourist attraction.

Castle of King Edward in Harlech at Twtil
It was built by Edward I during his invasion of Wales between 1282 and 1289 at the relatively modest cost of £8,190. Over the next few centuries, the castle played an important part in several wars, withstanding the siege of Madog ap Llywelyn between 1294–95, but falling to Owain Glyndŵr in 1404. It then became Glyndŵr's residence and military headquarters for the remainder of the uprising until being recaptured by English forces in 1409. During the 15th century Wars of the Roses, Harlech was held by the Lancastrians for seven years, before Yorkist troops forced its surrender in 1468, a siege memorialised in the song Men of Harlech. Following the outbreak of the English Civil War in 1642, the castle was held by forces loyal to Charles I, holding out until 1647 when it became the last fortification to surrender to the Parliamentary armies.

Gorseddau and Prince of Wales Slate Quarries in Garndolbenmaen at Cwm Ystradllyn
Both the Gorseddau and Prince of Wales quarries were developed between 1850 and 1870, the “Golden Age” of the slate industry in Gwynedd.

Nantlle Valley Slate Quarry in Talysarn on Nantlle Road
The quarry sits at the bottom of the wide Nantlle valley and consists of six pits, the deepest dropping 106m from the surface. The slate veins here run vertically, allowing unusually deep vertical pits to be dug. Because the pits fall below the water table they needed to be constantly pumped to stay dry. A Cornish beam engine was installed in 1904 to pump the pits; it stayed in use until 1951 when it was replaced with electric pumps. This was the last new Cornish engine to be built. It remains in situ in its Grade I listed engine house.

Castle and Town Walls of King Edward in Caernarfon at Castle Ditch
The Edwardian town and castle acted as the administrative centre of north Wales and as a result the defences were built on a grand scale.

Dinorwig Slate Quarry in Llanberis at Padarn Country Park
It covered more than 700 acres (283 ha) consisting of two main quarry sections with 20 galleries in each and a number of ancillary workings. Extensive internal tramway systems connected the quarries using inclines to transport slate between galleries.

Castle and Town Walls of King Edward in Beaumaris on Castle Street
When work finally ceased around 1330 a total of £15,000 had been spent, a huge sum for the period, but the castle remained incomplete.

Penrhyn Slate Quarry and Bethesda, and the Ogwen valley to Port Penrhyn in Bangor on Bethesda
At the end of the nineteenth century it was the world's largest slate quarry; the main pit is nearly 1 mile (1.6 km) long and 1,200 feet (370 metres) deep, and it was worked by nearly 3,000 quarrymen.

Castle and Town Walls of King Edward in Conwy on Rose Hill Street
UNESCO considers Conwy to be one of "the finest examples of late 13th century and early 14th century military architecture in Europe", and it is classed as a World Heritage Site.

Hebrides county [capital = Stornoway]

Tiny archipelago in St Kilda on Western Isles
The tiny archipelago of St Kilda, lying off the west coast of mainland Scotland, is breathtaking. Formed from the rim of an ancient volcano associated with the opening up of the North Atlantic some 65-52 million years ago, the intensely dramatic, jagged landscape of towering cliffs – some of the highest sea cliffs in Europe – and sea stacks present stark black precipitous faces plunging from steep grass-green slopes in excess of 375m. Scenically, every element appears vertical, except the smooth amphitheatre of VillageBay on Hirta with its relict historic landscape. Exposure to some of the greatest wave heights and strongest wind speeds in Europe plays a major role in shaping the coastal ecology.

Highland county [capital = Inverness] The Flow Country in Tongue + Strathy and Armadale + Halkirk + Watten + Tannach and District + Rogart + Lairg at A’Mhoine-Hope-Loyal (N58 23 0 W4 26 39) + West Halladale (N58 23 57 W4 2 46) + East Halladale (N58 19 47 W3 41 48) + Munsary & Shielton (N58 23 53 W3 20 6) + Oliclett (N58 22 47 W3 13 40) + Skinsdale (N58 10 7 W4 6 26) + Fiag (N58 11 25 W4 35 49)
This peatland ecosystem, which has been accumulating for the past 9,000 years, provides a diversity of habitats home to a distinct combination of bird species and displays a remarkable diversity of features not found anywhere else on Earth. Peatlands play an important role in storing carbon and the property’s ongoing peat-forming ecological processes continue to sequester carbon on a very large scale, representing a significant research and educational resource.

Kent county [capital = Maidstone]

City of Canterbury see detail
Canterbury's important monuments are the modest Church of St Martin, the oldest church in England; the ruins of the Abbey of St Augustine, a reminder of the saint's evangelizing role in the Heptarchy from 597; and Christ Church Cathedral, a breathtaking mixture of Romanesque and Perpendicular Gothic, where Archbishop Thomas Becket was murdered in 1170.

London county [capital = London]

Royal Botanic Gardens in Richmond at Kew Green
This historic landscape garden features elements that illustrate significant periods of the art of gardens from the 18th to the 20th centuries. The gardens house botanic collections (conserved plants, living plants and documents) that have been considerably enriched through the centuries.

Westminster Palace in London at Cromwell Green
Westminster Palace, rebuilt from the year 1840 on the site of important medieval remains, is a fine example of neo-Gothic architecture.

Abbey in London at 20 Deans Yard
The site – which also comprises the small medieval Church of Saint Margaret, built in Perpendicular Gothic style, and Westminster Abbey, where all the sovereigns since the 11th century have been crowned – is of great historic and symbolic significance.

Tower in London at St Katharine's & Wapping
The massive White Tower is a typical example of Norman military architecture, whose influence was felt throughout the kingdom. It was built on the Thames by William the Conqueror to protect London and assert his power. The Tower of London – an imposing fortress with many layers of history, which has become one of the symbols of royalty – was built around the White Tower.

Maritime Town of Greenwich see detail
The ensemble of buildings at Greenwich, an outlying county of London, and the park in which they are set, symbolize English artistic and scientific endeavour in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Lothian county [capital = Edinburgh]

Old and New Towns of Edinburgh see detail
It has two distinct areas: the Old Town, dominated by a medieval fortress; and the neoclassical New Town, whose development from the 18th century onwards had a far-reaching influence on European urban planning. The harmonious juxtaposition of these two contrasting historic areas, each with many important buildings, is what gives the city its unique character.

Forth Bridge in Queensferry on M90
This railway bridge, crossing the Forth estuary in Scotland, had the world’s longest spans (541 m) when it opened in 1890. It remains one of the greatest cantilever trussed bridges and continues to carry passengers and freight. Its distinctive industrial aesthetic is the result of a forthright and unadorned display of its structural components. Innovative in style, materials and scale, the Forth Bridge marks an important milestone in bridge design and construction during the period when railways came to dominate long-distance land travel.

Merseyside county [capital = Liverpool]

City of Liverpool see detail
Liverpool played an important role in the growth of the British Empire and became the major port for the mass movement of people, e.g. slaves and emigrants from northern Europe to America. Liverpool was a pioneer in the development of modern dock technology, transport systems and port management.

Moyle county [capital = Ballycastle]

Giant's Causeway in Bushmills at 44 Causeway Road
It is made up of some 40,000 massive black basalt columns sticking out of the sea. The dramatic sight has inspired legends of giants striding over the sea to Scotland. Geological studies of these formations over the last 300 years have greatly contributed to the development of the earth sciences, and show that this striking landscape was caused by volcanic activity during the Tertiary, some 50–60 million years ago.

Northumberland county [capital = Morpeth]

Corstopitum Roman Station in Corbridge on Corchester Lane
Corbridge was once a bustling town and supply base where Romans and civilians would pick up food and provisions. It remained a vibrant community right up until the end of Roman Britain in the early years of the 5th century.

Chesters Roman Fort in Chollerford at Humshaugh, B6318
Chesters Roman Fort is the most complete Roman cavalry fort in Britain - wander around the unusually well-preserved baths and steam room, and the officers' quarters.

Temple of Mithras in Carrawburgh on Hadrian's Wall Walk
This fascinating temple to the god Mithras stands near Carrawburgh Roman Fort on Hadrian's Wall. Mithras was an eastern god who, according to legend, had captured and killed the primeval bull in a cave, which Mithraic temples, always small and gloomy, were intended to evoke.

Housesteads Roman Fort in Bardon Mill at Haydon Bridge, B6318
The fort was built in stone around AD 124, soon after the construction of the wall began in AD 122 when the area was part of the Roman province of Britannia.

Vindolanda in Bardon Mill at Henshaw, Stanegate
Archaeological excavations of the site show it was under Roman occupation from roughly 85 AD to 370 AD. Located near the modern village of Bardon Mill in Northumberland, it guarded the Stanegate, the Roman road from the River Tyne to the Solway Firth. It is noted for the Vindolanda tablets, a set of wooden leaf-tablets that were, at the time of their discovery, the oldest surviving handwritten documents in Britain.

North Yorkshire county [capital = Northallerton]

Studley Royal Park in Ripon on Fountains Lane
The spectacular ruins of the 12th century abbey and water mill, the Jacobean mansion of Fountains Hall, the Victorian masterpiece St Mary’s Church and one of the most magnificent Georgian water gardens ever created, make this a landscape of outstanding merit.

Orkney county [capital = Kirkwall]

Maeshowe Chambered Cairn in Stenness on Ireland Road
Since Maeshowe is the largest and most sophisticated example of the Maeshowe "type" of tomb, archaeologists have suggested that it is the last of its class, built around 2800 BC.

Standing Stones in Stenness @
Although the site today lacks the encircling ditch and bank, excavation has shown that this used to be a henge monument, possibly the oldest in the British Isles.

Ring of Brodgar in Stromness on B9055
The Ring of Brodgar (or Brogar, or Ring o' Brodgar) is a Neolithic henge and stone circle in Orkney, Scotland. Most henges do not contain stone circles; Brodgar is a striking exception, ranking with Avebury (and to a lesser extent Stonehenge) among the greatest of such sites.

Skara Brae Prehistoric Village in Sandwick on B9056
Consisting of eight clustered houses, it was occupied from roughly 3180 BC to about 2500 BC.

Oxfordshire county [capital = Oxford]

Blenheim Palace in Woodstock @
By their refusal of the French models of classicism, the Palace and Park illustrate the beginnings of the English Romantic movement, which was characterised by the eclecticism of its inspiration, its return to national sources and its love of nature. The influence of Blenheim on the architecture and organisation of space in the 18th and 19th centuries was greatly felt both in England and abroad.

Pitcairn islands [capital = Adamstown]

Henderson Island in Pitcairn Islands
This gem in the middle of the Pacific is one of the world's best remaining examples of an elevated coral atoll ecosystem. It exhibits remarkable biological diversity given the island’s size, with four endemic species of land birds, ten taxa of endemic vascular plants and large breeding seabird colonies.

Saint Helena Island [capital = Jamestown]

Gough and Inaccessible Islands in Saint Helena
The spectacular cliffs of each island, towering above the ocean, host some of the most important seabird colonies in the world.

Shropshire county [capital = Wolverhampton]

The Iron Bridge in Ironbridge at Hodge Bower
The bridge at Ironbridge, the world's first bridge constructed of iron, had a considerable influence on developments in the fields of technology and architecture.

Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal in Chirk on Station Road
The Pontcysyllte Aqueduct is a highly innovative monumental civil engineering structure, made using metal arches supported by high, slender masonry piers. It is the first great masterpiece of the civil engineer Thomas Telford and formed the basis of his outstanding international reputation. It bears witness to the production capacities of the British ironmaking industry, which were unique at that time.

Strathclyde county [capital = Glasgow]

New Lanark in Lanark on New Lanark Road
New Lanark is a small 18th- century village set in a sublime Scottish landscape where the philanthropist and Utopian idealist Robert Owen moulded a model industrial community in the early 19th century. The imposing cotton mill buildings, the spacious and well-designed workers' housing, and the dignified educational institute and school still testify to Owen's humanism.

Tyne and Wear county [capital = Newcastle upon Tyne]

Roman Fort in South Shields on Baring Street
A Roman gatehouse, barracks and Commanding Officer's house have been reconstructed on their original foundations. The gatehouse holds many displays related to the history of the fort, and its upper levels provide an overview of the archaeological site.

Benwell Roman Temple in Newcastle upon Tyne on Broomridge Avenue
The remains of Benwell Roman Temple can be found in a residential area a few miles from the centre of Newcastle. It was a small temple to the native god Antenociticus, in the civilian settlement which stood outside Benwell fort.

West Yorkshire county [capital = Wakefield]

Industrial village of Saltaire on Victoria Road
The architectural and engineering quality of the complete ensemble, comprising the exceptionally large and unified Salt's Mill buildings and the New Mill; the hierarchical employees' housing, the Dining Room, Congregational Church, Almshouses, Hospital, School, Institute, and Roberts Park, make it outstanding by comparison with other complexes of this type.

Wiltshire county [capital = Trowbridge]

Stonehenge in Salisbury on Stonehenge Road
The area contains a focal stone circle and henge and many other major monuments. At Stonehenge these include the Avenue, the Cursuses, Durrington Walls, Woodhenge, and the densest concentration of burial mounds in Britain.

Stones Circle in Avebury at Surrey
The area contains a focal stone circle and henge and many other major monuments. At Avebury they include Windmill Hill, the West Kennet Long Barrow, the Sanctuary, Silbury Hill, the West Kennet and Beckhampton Avenues, the West Kennet Palisaded Enclosures, and important barrows.