It is believed that St Winefride’s Shrine has been a place of pilgrimage for 1300 years, following the decapitation of a young, devout, girl by a brutal chieftain in the 7th century. Where Winefride’s head came to rest, a well sprung up. On the site now is a visitor complex that includes an architecturally unique
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Eliseg’s Pillar is the broken shaft of a 9th century inscribed stone that was probably originally topped with a cross. It gives the valley and nearby Valle Crucis Abbey their names. The stone was erected by Cyngen, prince of Powys, in memory of his great-grandfather, Eliseg. Illegible now, Eliseg’s Pillar once documented the family tree
Cannock Chase German Military Cemetery contains almost 5,000 German and Austrian graves. Following an agreement between the UK and what was then the Federal Republic of Germany in 1959, the German War Graves Commission (Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgraberfursorge) made arrangements to transfer the graves of German servicemen and civilians who had died in Britain during World
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The small village of Harby in Nottinghamshire is just a few miles west of the City of Lincoln. Harby’s main claim to fame is that it was where Eleanor of Castille, wife of King Edward I of England, died on 28 November 1290, aged 49. There is little to see. It is thought she had
The spot where King John and his barons agreed Magna Carta (the Great Charter) on 15 June 1215 is marked by a memorial commissioned by the American Bar Association , built in 1957. It is in the custody of the Magna Carta Trust under the chairmanship of the Master of the Rolls, the head of
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The Runnymede Air Forces Memorial is enormous, with names carved into panels around a sort of cloister. It is located off a quiet residential lane overlooking the River Thames, Runnymede Meadow, and Heathrow Airport’s flight path. The air forces memorial at Runnymede commemorates by name over 20,000 airmen and women who were lost in the Second World War during operations from bases in the United Kingdom and North and Western Europe, and who have no known graves.
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Calton Hill, at the east end of Edinburgh City, is a landmark that is home to several monuments, such as the National Monument, Nelson Monument, an 18th century cannon and the Dugald Stewart Monument. There are panoramic views all round and it is a place for walking and to watch outdoor celebratory events – such as Hogmanay fireworks.
Britain’s moving memorial to the 35th President of the USA, John F Kennedy, is in an acre of ground in Surrey, gifted to the American people in perpetuity. The designer, Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe, was inspired by Bunyan’s allegory of life in Pilgrim’s Progress. The memorial stone itself is a 7 ton block of Portland stone from the same quarry used to for St Paul’s Cathedral.
Cambridge American Cemetery commemorates almost 9,000 Americans who died while based in the UK, or travelling to it, during the Second World War. It is the only World War II American military cemetery in the United Kingdom. The site was established as a temporary military burial ground in 1943, on land donated by the University of Cambridge, and has been granted free use in perpetuity by HM Government
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Eleven O One is a 9-foot high weathered steel statue in Seaham, a former mining town. Created by Ray Lonsdale in 1914, it evocatively depicts a British soldier after hearing news of the Armistice news at 11 o’clock on November 11, 1918.
