Find places to visit in Britain by name, location, type of attraction, or other keyword.
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Bosham is a small, attractive, village on the side of an inlet in Chichester Harbour and beloved of yachtspeople. It is an ancient place, and apparently the (contested) location for King Cnut's encounter with the waves. His daughter is allegedly buried in the lovely church. Nice place to watch the world go by, there is also a craft centre, tea shops and a couple of nice pubs. Beware rising tides and be careful where you park.
Situated off the A259 between Chichester and Emsworth.
There isn't much left of Bramber Castle - a few sections of curtain wall, the remains of a tower, an overgrown motte, ditch, bits of masonry and an enormous section of gatehouse wall. It was built by the Norman, William de Braose, in 1073 to help control the locality and stayed in the family's hands for about 200 years. Bramber was still in use in the 15th century, but fell into disrepair and was in ruins by the time of the Civil War. Next door is St Nicholas' Church - which was originally the castle's chapel and is a little gem. The location is just on the edge of Bramber village. Legend has it that the ghosts of the 4th Baron William de Breose's children, starved to death in Windsor Castle as hostages of King John, haunt the streets nearby.
Bramber
Steyning
Along a small private road to the south of East Grinstead are the ruins of what was once a fine Jacobean house. This is Brambletye House. There had been a Brambletye Manor at the time of the Domesday Survey, on a now deserted moated plot nearby. This house was built in 1631 by Sir Henry Compton and allegedly destroyed during the civil wars by Parliamentary troops. Of course, there are stories…
The ruins can be viewed from the road, but there is nothing to actually visit – the old house is on private land. That said, the listing on Historic England suggests the ruins might be viewed by appointment – contact details on their site.
Directions - off the A22 about 2 miles south of East Grinstead. There is very limited parking just inside the entrance to a westbound farm entrance and private road. From there, you need to walk.
Forest Row
Oxford’s so-called Bridge of Sighs (Hertford Bridge) was completed in 1914 and links two halves of Hertford College. It has become something of a landmark and is much-photographed. It was never intended to be a replica of the Venetian Bridge of Sighs, and looks more like a considerably smaller version of the Rialto Bridge.
It is not generally open to the public.
Oxford
Brightling is a tiny village in the Weald, surrounded by lovely countryside and other tiny villages. There are two reasons you might want to visit. Firstly, it has an attractive church, dedicated to St Thomas à Becket, which was actually mentioned in the Domesday survey. So, given that Thomas was murdered in 1170, the church was obviously originally dedicated to someone else, possibly St Nicholas. The current building dates from the 13th century and among its features are some good brasses, 17th century wall paintings (biblical texts) and a rare barrel organ. The second reason to visit Brightling is to see the large stone pyramid in the churchyard. This was built as a mausoleum for John ‘Mad Jack’ Fuller (1757-1834), the local squire. Fuller was an eccentric, drunk, Member of Parliament, plantation and slave owner, philanthropist, patron of the arts and science (he supported JMW Turner and Michael Faraday) and builder of follies. Local legend was that he had been buried in his pyramid seated at a table in full evening dress with a bottle of claret but, sadly, that was shown to be untrue. Among his other structures are a ‘temple’ in the grounds of his house, Rosehill (now Brightling Park) next door to the church, an observatory (now a private residence), an obelisk on a local hilltop, ‘sugar loaf’ (no idea, sorry) and a tower – which is easily accessible a short walk across fields south-east of the church.
Brightling
Broadhalfpenny Down (brawdhaypenny) was home to Hambledon Cricket Club between c1750-87, which drew up the modern rules of cricket in the pub opposite, the Bat and Ball (then called ‘The Hutt’). Among other things, they determined the size of the bat and introduced the third stump. The captain of HCC was one Richard Nyren (1734-97), who was also landlord of the pub.
The first recognised first-class cricket match was played at Broadhalfpenny Down over 24-25 June 1772 between a Hambledon XI, consisting of the finest players in Hampshire, against an All England XI consisting of the finest players from Surrey and Kent. The prize was 500 Guineas. I've no idea who won, but 'tis said that the 'formidable' Hambledon team played All England elevens on 51 occasions, winning 29 of the matches.
Hambledon CC’s efforts helped transform cricket from an occasional local knockabout to an international sport; and it all happened at Broadhalfpenny Down. It is now home to Brigands Cricket Club.
Hambledon
Buckingham House, Portsmouth, is a former inn where George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, was murdered by a disgruntled naval lieutenant, John Felton, on 23 August 1628. It was on the market for £1.5M in March 2017 and as of October that year was being run as Ye Spotted Dogge guest house - a return to its past. The building possibly dates from the late 15th century and is certainly Tudor in origin. In 1523 it was Le Greyhound Inne. By the time of Buckingham's murder, it was known as Ye Spotted Dogge Inne and owned by a Captain John Mason. Mason was an explorer and credited with naming New Hampshire. Felton was executed in London - his body was brought back to Portsmouth and left to rot near Clarence Pier. The property was later owned by Dr William Smith, who died in 1732 and left a bequest to found Portsmouth Grammar School - now located next door.
Note - the building is not a tourist attraction or generally open to the public. See their website.
Portsmouth
Buckler's Hard is a show village, built in the 18th century, on the Beaulieu river with a pub, hotel and museum. There is also a riverside walk to Beaulieu village. Buckler's Hard was at one time a busy port and shipbuilding community, where many of the Royal Navy's ships began life. It also had a role in the preparations for D-Day during the Second World War. Buckler's Hard is part of the Beaulieu Estate.
Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion and seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury. The Cathedral was founded by St Augustine in 597AD, though the present building dates mostly from the late medieval period. Archbishop Thomas Becket was murdered here in 1170 and it thereafter became a place of pilgrimage. The Cathedral is a holy place and part of a World Heritage Site.
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
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