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.
Places to visit in Yorkshire will be moved to ABAB’s Places during May.
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Carfax Tower is all that remains of the 12th century church of St Martin's Church, the official civic church for the city situated at the centre of the old medieval town. St Martins was demolished in 1820 after the building had become unstable, but the 13th century west tower was spared. The replacement church wasn’t around for long; it was pulled down in 1896 when the road was widened and, again, the tower was spared.
The name ‘Carfax’, or ‘carfoukes’ in older English, is said to be derived either from the French ‘carrefourges’, ‘carrefour’ – or ‘crossroads’ – or from the Latin ‘quatuor furcas’ - ‘four forks’. So ‘carfax’ refers to the location; technically, the tower is St Martin's Tower. A climb to the top (it is 74 feet high) provides wonderful views over the city. And no building in central Oxford is permitted to be built any higher than Carfax Tower. On its east side is a copy of the old church clock, with mechanical ‘quarterboys’ hammering out each quarter hour.
Oxford
A stone marks the spot claimed to be the centre of Scotland. It is on the Glen Truim road, between the A889 and the A9, part of the 250 mile network of military roads built for the Government by General Wade after the Jacobite rising of 1715. This section was built in 1719 and is a section of the road between Fort Augustus and Ruthven Barracks at Kingussie. The stone replaces an earlier marker and was unveiled on 5th June 2015.
Post code is approximate.
3 miles south of Newtonmore
The Cerne Abbas Giant is one of Britain’s best known hill figures, cut into the hillside near the pretty Dorset village of Cerne Abbas. It is formed of a cut trench about 1 foot deep and across, stands 180 feet (55 metres) high and depicts a nude male wielding a large club. Possibly its most noticeable feature is its prominent erection – so the figure is often associated with fertility. Some people think the giant represents a Celtic deity, or Hercules. In fact, the age of the Cerne Abbas Giant had long been uncertain, but following hi-tech analysis of sediment, it was announced in 2021 that he dates from the late Saxon period - possibly 10th century. There is a viewing area a short distance from Cerne Abbas village and there are walks nearby.
It is hard to photograph the Giant. The image here is from Google Earth.
The Chiding Stone is a block of smooth sandstone which allegedly (but probably not) gives the village of Chiddingstone in Kent its name and which has a mysterious past. One story is that it was used as a place of judgement in ancient times - hence 'chiding stone'. The village is a peach - most of the buildings are owned by the National Trust and are over 200 years old.
Chiddingstone is located on a minor road between Edenbridge and Tonbridge; the River Eden flows just to the north.
Nr Edenbridge
At the northern end of Baker Street near Regent’s Park is No 94, Chiltern Court. This was home to SOE’s Scandinavian Section and is where the famous Telemark Raid, commemorated on the memorial in Lambeth, was planned. In happier times, it was also home to the novelists HG Wells and Arnold Bennett.
Cleopatra’s Needle is the oldest object on London's streets and one of several interesting monuments on London’s Embankment, not far from Westminster. It is an Egyptian obelisk, one of a pair originally made for the Pharaoh Thutmose III in c1500 BC, erected in Heliopolis and moved to Alexandria in 12 BC. The link to Cleopatra is spurious. It is a single piece of inscribed granite about 60 feet (18m) high and weighing around 186 tons (189,000Kg). The monument was presented to Britain by the Turkish Sultan of Egypt and Sudan, Mahommed Ali, in 1819 in commemoration of Lord Nelson’s victory at the Battle of the Nile in 1798 and Sir Ralph Abercromby’s victory at the Battle of Alexandria in 1801.
However, the obelisk was not moved to the UK until September 1877. Its journey is a story in its own right. A cigar-shaped container ship named the Cleopatra – a kind of iron cylinder complete with deckhouse, mast, rudder and steering gear – was specially made to transport the obelisk, and its crew. It was towed by the steamship, Olga, but a violent storm struck in the Bay of Biscay, the towropes had to be cut and six men from the Olga drowned trying to rescue the Cleopatra’s crew. The crew were saved, but Cleopatra was lost in the raging seas. Later, she was sighted and towed into harbour in Spain. From there, the paddleship Anglia towed her to England, arriving in Gravesend on 21 January 1878. Crowds cheered as Cleopatra's Needle was towed up the Thames. It was finally erected on the Embankment on 12 September 1878. The two sphinxes that sit beneath it were cast in bronze at the Ecclestone Iron Works in Pimlico in 1881.
London’s Cleopatra’s Needle has a twin in New York’s Central Park.
The Cork Stone is one of a number of natural stone pillars on Derbyshire’s Stanton Moor. It is a well-known landmark, a piece of weathered sandstone that has stood for thousands of years, eroded into a mushroom shape resembling an enormous cork. It is covered in graffiti dating from at least the 19th century and has step holes cut out of one side to facilitate climbing to the top. Metal rods were added later, possibly in Victorian times according to a nearby information board. There is a hollow bowl on top of the stone.
There is no postcode. The address is for guidance only. The Cork Stone will be found a short distance from a lay-by and information board on the east side of Birchover Road.
between Birchover and Stanton in Peak,
W of the A6
Crackpot Hall is a ruined 18th century farmhouse in a remote location on the northern slope of Swaledale, in the Yorkshire Dales. It is accessible along a track leading off the footpath between Muker and Keld, about a mile from the latter. Reminders of past lead mining are all around. It’s an atmospheric place, with tumbled and rusting reminders of what once was. The building was still occupied in the 1920s when visited by local historians/writers Ella Pontefract and Marie Hartley. They noted Alice, 4-year old daughter of the farmer, who had “the madness of the moors about her, and all their wariness.” Apparently, the girl’s “mocking, chuckling, laugh” seemed “as untamed as her lonely house.” Other sources suggest that tales of feral children were simply the way things were. Disappointingly, the name Crackpot Hall is apparently derived from the Norse 'kraka' for crow and old English 'pot' for cave.
The post code is approximate, of course; Crackpot Hall probably doesn't receive a lot of mail.
Swaledale
An urban garden of remembrance has been created on the site of Crossbones Graveyard, a burial place for paupers, prostitutes and the unwanted. It developed from a late medieval 'single women's churchyard' - a resting place for the 'Winchester Geese', prostitutes licensed by the Bishop of Winchester to work in London's pleasure quarter, outside the confines of the City of London. The graveyard was closed on health grounds in 1853. An estimated 15,000 people are buried there in unmarked graves.
Staffed by volunteers, limited opening.
The post code is for the Boot & Flogger wine bar opposite.
Borough
Exbury Gardens were the creation of wealthy Victorian banker, Lionel Rothschild. There are 200 acres to explore, along the bank of the Beaulieu river in the New Forest. Exbury is famous for its rare trees and, in the spring, its collection of rhododendrons, azaleas and camellias. There is also a 12.25 inch gauge railway to ride on, if you're so inclined.
You will find Exbury on a minor road south of the B3054 between Hythe and Beaulieu.
Southampton
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.