St Albans Cathedral is known as the oldest site of continuous Christian worship in Britain and stands over the place where Alban, Britain’s first saint, was buried after the Roman gave his life for his faith more than 1700 years ago. A church was built over the grave and it became a place of pilgrimage.
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Wolstonbury Hill is a 676 feet (206 metres) high hill on the South Downs, north of Brighton, with spectacular views. It is a scheduled monument, the site of a late Bronze Age enclosure, or hill fort, and other remains, as well as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), noted for its biodiversity, including eleven
Crackpot Hall is a ruined 18th century farmhouse in a remote location on the northern slope of Swaledale, in the Yorkshire Dales. Its origins are possibly older – it is reputedly built on the site of an old hunting lodge. It is accessible along a track leading off the footpath between Muker and Keld, about
The Callanish Standing Stones is an atmospheric complex of 50 stones in a cruciform arrangement roughly aligned north-south, with an inner circle of 13 stones and a small chambered cairn. They date from 3000BC and there are several other prehistoric sites nearby, including 3 additional circles. As with other stone circles in Britain, there is
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The historic site of the decisive Battle of Bosworth on 22 August 1485 is where King Richard III was killed and the victor, Henry Tudor, started a new dynasty as Henry VII. Bosworth was the last significant armed encounter of the so-called Wars of the Roses, the medieval dynastic struggle between the houses of York
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Christ’s College, Cambridge, was first established as God’s House in 1437 by William Byngham, a London parish priest, for training grammar school masters. However, its site was needed for King’s College, so it had to move to its present location in 1448. Lady Margaret Beaufort, mother of King Henry VII, decided to enlarge God’s House
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In the middle of Whitehall, outside the Foreign Office, is the Cenotaph. Designed by Lutyens, the Cenotaph is the sombre focal point for the annual National Service of Remembrance held on the closest Sunday to 11 November. Cenotaph means ’empty tomb’ in Greek and the memorial is dedicated to the dead of all wars since
A modern stone memorial to the Battle of Edgehill stands by a layby on the B4086 Banbury Road between Kineton and Radway. The Battle was the first major engagement of the English Civil War and was fought in open fields on the afternoon of 23 October 1642. The King, Charles I, sought to take his
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The church of St Magnus the Martyr (a Viking Jarl of Orkney born c1075, died 1118), is a bit of a surprise – but it is fascinating. It is located on a part of the Thames foreshore reclaimed by the Romans and for 700 years stood at the northern end of London Bridge – so
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Blakeney Guildhall is the flint-covered remains of a 15th century merchant’s house, with a fine brick-vaulted undercroft. It later became the guildhall for local fish merchants. There’s not much to see, but it is worth a visit if you’re in town; it’s just by the harbour. This is an English Heritage property managed by Blakeney
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In the Middle Ages, the small village of Blakeney was a thriving port handling exotic products like spices. Silting of the harbour changed its fortunes and it’s now an attractive tourist destination and a good base for exploring north Norfolk. It is in a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the North Norfolk Coastal Path
The Yorkshire Dales National Park is one of Britain’s fifteen national parks and was established in 1954. It is a working environment covering 841 square miles (2,179 square kilometres) and straddles the central Pennines of Northern England in North Yorkshire, Cumbria and a small part of Lancashire. The Dales is a place of big skies