HMS Victory, the world’s oldest naval ship still in commission, was Admiral Nelson’s flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. After that victory, the Royal Navy was unchallenged for 100 years. A visit to this icon of Empire is fascinating.
St Andrews, Greensted, is known as ‘the Log Church’, reputedly the oldest surviving wooden church in the world, constructed c1060 using split oak logs. The church is also famous as a reputed resting place for the body of St Edmund, on its way from London to be finally interred in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, in 1013.
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Bamburgh Castle, once home to the Anglian Kings of Northumbria, is perched on a mighty crag next to the North Sea and a wonderful beach. It is one of Northumberland’s most iconic images. The present building was heavily restored by William Armstrong, builder of Cragside, whose family still live there.
The ruins of the great Cistercian Fountains Abbey are the largest monastic ruins in the United Kingdom. The monastery stood for some four centuries and can be atmospheric – but also crowded. Highlights include the east window in the Chapel of the Nine Altars, the enormous nave of the abbey church and the cellarium. Fountains Abbey and the adjoining Studley Royal water garden and park, including the Victorian Gothic church of St Mary’s, are all part of a World Heritage Site.
Home to the Earl and Countess of Carnarvon, Highclere is a predominantly Victorian mansion set in extensive grounds. The house was redeveloped in Jacobean style by Sir Charles Barry, the architect responsible for the Houses of Parliament, from an earlier Georgian mansion which, itself, replaced a Tudor House. The 5th Earl sponsored the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb by Howard Carter in 1922 and Highclere was used as the location for the TV series Jeeves and Wooster as well as taking the title role in the highly successful Downton Abbey.
Boscobel House – ‘Boscobel’ comes from ‘bosco bello’, or ‘beautiful wood’, possibly a secluded site where Roman Catholics could feel relatively safe – is a 17th century farm, extended and refurbished in the 19th century. Its fame is as a hiding place for the future King Charles II following his defeat at the Battle of Worcester in 1651. Charles hid in one of two ‘priest holes’ in the house, having first (and more famously) escaped detection by climbing an oak tree in the grounds.
Fort George was built in the aftermath of the Battle of Culloden (1746), to help control any future Jacobite rebellions in the Highlands. In the event, no threat materialised and Fort George became a base for the British Army – and remains so to this day. It welcomes visitors, however, and there is much to see – from historic barracks to the chapel – and walking round the ramparts. It’s a massive and literally awesome place, built on a point extending into the Moray Firth, where it is possible to see dolphins at play.
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Great Gable is the mountain that gave the Lake District National Park its logo. At 2,960 feet (899 metres) high, it is famed for its views – both along the way and from the summit, where (on a clear day) the Lakes’ radial drainage can be fullty appreciated – and for the sheer satisfaction of doing it.
Tower Bridge is the iconic Gothic-Victorian bridge that crosses the Thames at the Pool of London and opens to allow ships to pass through. When it opened, London was the busiest port in the world. Seeing the roadways – bascules – open is quite a sight; and it happens roughly twice a day.
Portmeirion is a unique and colourful fantasy village in North Wales created by architect Clough Williams-Ellis from 1925-1976. It has an other-worldly feel and no other purpose than as a place of enjoyment. It was made famous as the setting for the 1960s cult TV series, ‘The Prisoner’.
The ancient settlement at Earls Barton is particularly notable for its parish church, All Saints’. It is one of several Northamptonshire churches with Saxon roots and is particularly renowned for its unique tower, which dates from the 10th century. This has been described as “the finest existing specimen of pre-Conquest work and the most noteworthy architectural monument of its period in England”.
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Oliver Cromwell, once the most powerful man in the land and leader of the only republican government in Britain’s history, had a family house in Ely for 10 years. This is it.
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