Find places to visit in Britain by name, location, type of attraction, or other keyword.
This listings directory of over 950 entries is being phased out.
It now excludes places and things of interest in North East England.
These can be found in ABAB’s Places.
Tap/Click ‘find listings’ for a detailed search – or just have a browse.
The full name of this place is the Avoncroft Museum of Historic Buildings and it was England's first open air museum, established in 1967. Avoncroft displays 30-odd rescued buildings and structures, ranging from 14th - 20th centuries, which have been re-built in 19 acres of rural Worcestershire. The museum includes a wildflower meadow, period gardens and a traditional cider and perry orchard. It is also home to the National Telephone Kiosk Collection.
Bromsgrove
Edward Elgar was one of England’s greatest musical composers; his works include the Enigma Variations and Land of Hope and Glory. He was born on 2 June 1857 in Lower Broadheath, about three miles from Worcester, and died at his home, Marl Bank, in Worcester on 23 February 1934. He is said to have been inspired by the countryside around Worcester and the Malvern Hills. Elgar's birthplace, a cottage called the Firs, is now a museum with a garden and visitor centre owned by the National Trust. Elgar's father William had an established music business in Worcester, some three miles from Broadheath and only spent weekends at the cottage. Apparently, the cottage in the countryside was his mother’s choice, rather than his father’s. However, they later moved to 10 High Street in the city, living above the music business. The shop is no longer there, but a plaque on the Gifford Hotel marks the approximate location. Sadly, and inexplicably, his house at Marl Bank was demolished in 1969. Next to Cathedral Square is a bronze statue of Elgar, situated so that he is looking at the Cathedral he loved. The statue was the work of Kenneth Potts and was unveiled by HRH Prince of Wales on 2 June 1981.
Crown East Lane
Lower Broadheath
The Commandery is a historic building in Worcester which possibly dates from the 11th century, and which has had a variety of uses over the centuries, right up to the 1950s. Traditionally it is claimed to have been an almshouse and medieval hospital, the hospital of St Wulfstan, administered by the Knights of St John. The name ‘Commandery’ dates from this time. The building was acquired by Thomas Wylde, a clothier, after the dissolution of the monasteries, and stayed in the Wylde family until the late 18th century. In the 1950s it was being used as a printer’s workshop.
However, the Commandery is best known as the Royalist Headquarters of Charles II during the Battle of Worcester in 1651. It is situated outside the site of Sidbury Gate, scene of heavy fighting. One of the Scottish commanders of the Royalist army, the Duke of Hamilton, died of wounds in the building. The Commandery is open to the public as a museum and houses an interactive exhibition about the battle, and the wider context of the Civil War. The building also contains a number of architectural features, including a remarkable painted chamber dating from the 15th century.
Worcester
Lacock Abbey was established between 1229 and 1232 by Lady Ela, Countess of Salisbury. After the Reformation, it became a family home in the hands of the Sharingtons, followed by the Talbots. The most famous Talbot, William Henry Fox Talbot (1800-77) was an accomplished scientist and inventor of the negative/positive photographic process. Thus, Lacock is often plugged as "the birthplace of photography". There are wonderful gardens and grounds set amongst rolling Wiltshire countryside. The ground floor of the abbey has been well preserved - including the cloisters - and parts have featured in several film and TV productionss, including Harry Potter and Wolf Hall. The first floor is a Gothic Victorian home. Also on site is the Fox Talbot Museum, dedicated to photography.
Nr Chippenham
The Brontë family moved to Haworth in 1820, when Patrick Brontë was appointed ‘perpetual curate’ of the parish church. They lived in the Parsonage, where the three immensely talented sisters wrote some of the finest literature in the English language. Though it will overwhelm those who do not actually worship the Brontës, the Parsonage Museum is fascinating. And the town of Haworth is always worth a visit anyway. Don't miss the Gothic splendour of the churchyard!
Haworth
Keighley
The National Coal Mining Museum of England is located at a former colliery, Caphouse, which was in production for more than two hundred years. There are several galleries that showcase the technology of mining and working underground, illustrate what mining was like in the 19th century and tell the stories of the miners, their families and their communities. You can see where miners began and ended their working days – at the Pithead Baths. You can even meet some pit ponies. The highlight of a visit, however, is a trip underground, 460 feet (140 metres) beneath the surface equipped with your miners’ hat and lamp. The tours are led by experienced (and often amusing) ex-miners, who tell you to ‘shut tha’ trap’ and explain when you are ‘done and dusted’. The underground tour really brings home the harsh realities of the dangerous and unpleasant conditions miners worked in, from the times when women and children worked alongside their men, to the 20th century when the pit closed.
New Road
Overton
Wakefield
Saltaire is a Victorian model village in West Yorkshire, built by textile magnate Titus Salt. The name is a combination of 'Salt' with 'Aire', the local river. Salt gave his workers considerably better living and working conditions than they had endured in Bradford, after he moved production to his new facility in 1853. Saltaire today is a preserved, living, village with shops, a park, canalside walks, all part of a World Heritage Site. But no pub – Titus didn’t approve of pubs. The main feature is the old factory building, Salts Mill, which includes exhibitions, specialist retail outlets and a permanent gallery exhibiting the works of local Bradford artist, David Hockney.
Saltaire gives a vivid impression of Victorian philanthropic paternalism and, as with New Lanark, Saltaire had a profound influence on industrial social welfare, urban planning and the 19th century garden city movement in the UK and beyond.
Saltaire
Bignor Roman Villa is thought to have reached its peak in the 4th century. It was famously rediscovered in 1811, when farmer George Tupper’s plough hit a piece of stone. Excavations revealed wonderful mosaics buried under the turf of the South Downs and the site soon became a tourist attraction. Buildings were erected (on Roman foundations) in the early 19th century to protect the remains. These are typical flint and thatch agricultural buildings of the time and are of historical value themselves. The Tupper family still farm some 2,000 acres at Bignor and still own and run the villa as a tourist attraction. The mosaics are stunning – the up-market floor coverings of their day. Sadly, we can only make educated guesses about the people that once enjoyed them as part of their home.
Bignor Roman Villa is set in lovely countryside and also hosts regular reenactments.
A local museum that includes, among other things, Chichester's Roman bath house, Racton Man - the skeleton of a Bronze Age warrior discovered nearby and a small artwork collection. It also hosts special exhibitions - check the website to see what's on.
Chichester
A military museum located on a corner of the historic Tangmere RAF station, which was on the front line during the Battle of Britain. It also provided the forward take-off point for Lysander aircraft, based at RAF Tempsford in Bedfordshire, to refuel before landing agents in enemy-occupied Europe. The museum was opened by enthusiasts in 1982, owns a number of historic and replica aircraft and includes flight simulators and several permanent exhibitions.
Nr Chichester
If your favourite attraction is not listed yet, and you have a good quality digital photograph of it that you are able to freely send, please get in touch.