1.
Blenheim Palace
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Blenheim Palace is a monumental country house situated in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England. It is the residence of the Dukes of Marlborough. The palace, one of Englands largest houses, was built between 1705 and circa 1722, Blenheim Palace was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987. Designed in the rare, and short-lived, English Baroque style and it is unique in its combined use as a family home, mausoleum and national monument. The palace is notable as the birthplace and ancestral home of Sir Winston Churchill. At the end of the 19th century, the palace was saved from ruin by funds gained from the 9th Duke of Marlboroughs marriage to American railroad heiress Consuelo Vanderbilt, the exterior of the palace remains in good repair. John Churchill was born in Devon, although his family had aristocratic relations, it belonged to the minor gentry rather than the upper echelons of 17th-century society. In 1678, Churchill married Sarah Jennings, and in April that year, in May, Churchill was appointed the temporary rank of Brigadier-General of Foot, but the possibility of a continental campaign was eliminated with the Treaty of Nijmegen. When Churchill returned to England, the Popish Plot resulted in a temporary three-year banishment for James Stuart, the Duke obliged Churchill to attend him, first to The Hague, then in Brussels. On the death of Charles II in 1685, his brother, on Jamess succession Churchill was appointed governor of the Hudsons Bay Company. He had also been affirmed Gentleman of the Bedchamber in April, following the Monmouth Rebellion, Churchill was promoted to Major General and awarded the lucrative colonelcy of the Third Troop of Life Guards. When William, Prince of Orange, invaded England in November 1688, Churchill, accompanied by some 400 officers and men, when the King saw he could not even keep Churchill—for so long his loyal and intimate servant—he fled to France. As part of William IIIs coronation honours Churchill was created Earl of Marlborough, sworn to the Privy Council, during the War of the Spanish Succession Churchill gained a reputation as a capable military commander, and in 1702 he was elevated to the dukedom of Marlborough. During the war he won series of victories, including the Battle of Blenheim, the Battle of Ramillies, the Battle of Oudenarde, and this flag is displayed by the Monarch on a 17th-century French writing table in Windsor Castle. Marlboroughs wife was by all accounts a cantankerous woman, though capable of great charm, the relationship between Queen and Duchess later became strained and fraught, and following their final quarrel in 1711, the money for the construction of Blenheim ceased. For political reasons the Marlboroughs went into exile on the Continent until they returned the day after the Queens death on 1 August 1714, legend has obscured the manors origins. King Henry I enclosed the park to contain the deer, Henry II housed his mistress Rosamund Clifford there in a bower and labyrinth, a spring in which she is said to have bathed remains, named after her. The Duchess, as so often in her disputes with her architect, won the day, the architect selected for the ambitious project was a controversial one
2.
Canterbury
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Canterbury is a historic English cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, a journey of pilgrims to Beckets shrine served as the frame for Geoffrey Chaucers 14th century classic The Canterbury Tales. Canterbury is a popular tourist destination, consistently one of the cities in the United Kingdom. The city has been occupied since Paleolithic times and served as the capital of the Celtic Cantiaci, modern additions include the Marlowe Theatre and the St Lawrence Ground, home of the Kent County Cricket Club. Canterbury remains, however, a city in terms of geographical size and population. In Sub-Roman Britain, it was known in Old Welsh as Cair Ceint, occupied by the Jutes, it became known in Old English as Cantwareburh, which developed into its present name. The Canterbury area has been inhabited since prehistoric times, lower Paleolithic axes, and Neolithic and Bronze Age pots have been found in the area. Canterbury was first recorded as the settlement of the Celtic tribe of the Cantiaci. In the 1st century AD, the Romans captured the settlement, the Romans rebuilt the city, with new streets in a grid pattern, a theatre, a temple, a forum, and public baths. In the late 3rd century, to defend against attack from barbarians, the Romans built an earth bank around the city and a wall with seven gates, which enclosed an area of 130 acres. Over the next 100 years, an Anglo-Saxon community formed within the city walls, as Jutish refugees arrived, in 597, Pope Gregory the Great sent Augustine to convert its King Æthelberht to Christianity. After the conversion, Canterbury, being a Roman town, was chosen by Augustine as the centre for his see in Kent. Augustine thus became the first Archbishop of Canterbury, the towns new importance led to its revival, and trades developed in pottery, textiles, and leather. By 630, gold coins were being struck at the Canterbury mint, in 672, the Synod of Hertford gave the see of Canterbury authority over the entire English Church. In 842 and 851, Canterbury suffered great loss of life during Danish raids, in 978, Archbishop Dunstan refounded the abbey built by Augustine, and named it St Augustines Abbey. A second wave of Danish attacks began in 991, and in 1011 the cathedral was burnt, remembering the destruction caused by the Danes, the inhabitants of Canterbury did not resist William the Conquerors invasion in 1066. William immediately ordered a wooden motte-and-bailey castle to be built by the Roman city wall, in the early 12th century, the castle was rebuilt with stone. After the murder of Archbishop Thomas Becket at the cathedral in 1170, Canterbury became one of the most notable towns in Europe and this pilgrimage provided the framework for Geoffrey Chaucers 14th-century collection of stories, The Canterbury Tales
3.
Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd
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The Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd is a UNESCO-designated World Heritage Site located in Gwynedd, Wales. It includes the castles of Beaumaris and Harlech and the castles and town walls of Caernarfon, UNESCO considers the sites to be the finest examples of late 13th century and early 14th century military architecture in Europe. The fortifications were built by Edward I after his invasion of North Wales in 1282, Edward defeated the local Welsh princes in a major campaign and set about permanently colonising the area. He created new fortified towns, protected by castles, in which English immigrants could settle, the project was hugely expensive and stretched royal resources to the limit. Fresh Welsh revolts followed in 1294 under the leadership of Madog ap Llywelyn, Conwy and Harlech were kept supplied by sea and held out against the attack, but Caernarfon, still only partially completed, was stormed. In the aftermath, Edward reinvigorated the programme and ordered the commencement of work at Beaumaris. Edwards wars in Scotland began to consume royal funding, however, Building work on all the fortifications had ceased by 1330, without Caernarfon and Beaumaris having been fully completed. The fortifications played an important part in the conflicts in North Wales over the coming centuries and they were involved in the Glyndŵr Rising of the early 15th century and the Wars of the Roses in the late 15th century. Despite declining in military significance following the succession of the Tudor dynasty to the throne in 1485, by the end of the 17th century, however, the castles were ruinous. They became popular with visiting artists during the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the British state invested heavily in the castles and town walls during the 20th century, restoring many of their medieval features. For much of the 20th century, the castles and walls were considered primarily from a military perspective, in the late 20th and 21st centuries, historians such as Michael Prestwich and Abigail Wheatley also highlighted the sites roles as palaces and symbols of royal power. The location of such as Caernarfon and Conwy were chosen for their political significance as well as military functions. The castles incorporated luxury apartments and gardens, with the intention of supporting large royal courts in splendour, Caernarfons castle and town walls incorporated expensive stonework, probably intended to evoke images of Arthurian or Roman imperial power in order to bolster Edwards personal prestige. The precise role of the royal architect James of St George in the projects. The Edwardian castles and town walls in Gwynedd were built as a consequence of the wars fought for the control of Wales in the late 13th century. The kings of England and the Welsh princes had vied for control of the region since the 1070s, with Norman and English nobles, Edward I became the king of England in 1272. Edward had extensive experience of warfare and sieges, having fought in Wales in 1257, led the siege of Kenilworth Castle in 1266. He had seen numerous European fortifications, including the walled town
4.
Bath, Somerset
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Bath is a city in the ceremonial county of Somerset, England, known for its Roman-built baths. In 2011, the population was 88,859, Bath is in the valley of the River Avon,97 miles west of London and 11 miles south-east of Bristol. The city became a World Heritage Site in 1987, the city became a spa with the Latin name Aquæ Sulis c. AD60 when the Romans built baths and a temple in the valley of the River Avon, Bath Abbey was founded in the 7th century and became a religious centre, the building was rebuilt in the 12th and 16th centuries. In the 17th century, claims were made for the properties of water from the springs. Many of the streets and squares were laid out by John Wood, the Elder, and in the 18th century the city became fashionable, Jane Austen lived in Bath in the early 19th century. Further building was undertaken in the 19th century and following the Bath Blitz in World War II, the city has software, publishing and service-oriented industries. Theatres, museums, and other cultural and sporting venues have helped make it a centre for tourism with more than one million staying visitors and 3.8 million day visitors to the city each year. There are several museums including the Museum of Bath Architecture, Victoria Art Gallery, Museum of East Asian Art, the city has two universities, the University of Bath and Bath Spa University, with Bath College providing further education. Sporting clubs include Bath Rugby and Bath City F. C. while TeamBath is the name for all of the University of Bath sports teams. Bath became part of the county of Avon in 1974, and, the hills in the locality such as Bathampton Down saw human activity from the Mesolithic period. Several Bronze Age round barrows were opened by John Skinner in the 18th century, solsbury Hill overlooking the current city was an Iron Age hill fort, and the adjacent Bathampton Camp may also have been one. A long barrow site believed to be from the Beaker people was flattened to make way for RAF Charmy Down, messages to her scratched onto metal, known as curse tablets, have been recovered from the sacred spring by archaeologists. The tablets were written in Latin, and cursed people whom the writers felt had wronged them, for example, if a citizen had his clothes stolen at the baths, he might write a curse, naming the suspects, on a tablet to be read by the goddess. A temple was constructed in AD 60–70, and a complex was built up over the next 300 years. Engineers drove oak piles into the mud to provide a stable foundation, in the 2nd century, the spring was enclosed within a wooden barrel-vaulted structure that housed the caldarium, tepidarium, and frigidarium. The town was given defensive walls, probably in the 3rd century. After the failure of Roman authority in the first decade of the 5th century, in March 2012 a hoard of 30,000 silver Roman coins, one of the largest discovered in Britain, was unearthed in an archaeological dig
5.
Derwent Valley Mills
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Derwent Valley Mills is a World Heritage Site along the River Derwent in Derbyshire, England, designated in December 2001. It is administered by the Derwent Valley Mills Partnership, the modern factory, or mill, system was born here in the 18th century to accommodate the new technology for spinning cotton developed by Richard Arkwright. With advancements in technology, it possible to produce cotton continuously. The system was adopted throughout the valley, and later spread so that by 1788 there were over 200 Arkwright-type mills in Britain, Arkwrights inventions and system of organising labour was exported to Europe and the United States. Water-power was first introduced to England by John Lombe at his mill in Derby in 1719. His patent of a water frame allowed cotton to be spun continuously, to ensure the presence of a labour force, it was necessary to construct housing for the mill workers. Thus, new settlements were established by mill owners around the mills – sometimes developing a pre-existing community – with their own such as schools, chapels. Most of the still exists and is still in use. Along with the transport infrastructure form part of the site, a transport infrastructure was built to open new markets for the mills produce. Mills and workers settlements were established at Belper, Darley Abbey, Arkwright-type mills were so successful that sometimes they were copied without paying royalties to Richard Arkwright. The mills and their buildings are well preserved and have been reused since the cotton industry declined. Many of the buildings within the World Heritage Site are also listed buildings, some of the mills now contain museums and are open to the public. Within the site are mill complexes, settlements including workers housing, weirs on the River Derwent, and the transport network that supported the mills in the valley. The site consists of the communities of Cromford, Belper, Milford, and Darley Abbey, and includes 838 listed buildings, made up of 16 Grade I,42 Grade II*, a further nine structures are Scheduled Ancient Monuments. The buildings are a mixture of mills, workers housing, the Cromford Canal and Cromford and High Peak Railway, which aided the industrialisation of the area, are also part of the World Heritage Site. In the late 17th century silk making expanded due to demand for silk as part of fashionable garments. In an attempt to increase production through the use of water power, although the experiment was unsuccessful, it convinced John Lombe – an employee of Cotchett – that if water power could be perfected there was a market for its produce. He engaged in espionage and gained plans of Italian machines
6.
Jurassic Coast
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The Jurassic Coast is a World Heritage Site on the English Channel coast of southern England. It stretches from Exmouth in East Devon to Studland Bay in Dorset, a distance of about 96 mi, the site spans 185 million years of geological history, coastal erosion having exposed an almost continuous sequence of rock formation covering the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. At different times, this area has been desert, shallow sea and marsh. Natural features seen on this stretch of coast include arches, pinnacles, in some places the sea has broken through resistant rocks to produce coves with restricted entrances, and in one place, the Isle of Portland is connected to the land by a narrow spit. In some parts of the coast, landslides are common and these have exposed a wide range of fossils, the different rock types each having its own typical fauna and flora, thus providing evidence of how animals and plants evolved in this region. The area around Lulworth Cove contains a fossil forest, and 71 different rock strata have been identified at Lyme Regis, each with its own species of ammonite. The fossil collector Mary Anning lived here and her discoveries of marine reptiles. The Charmouth Heritage Coast Centre provides information on the heritage coast, the Jurassic Coast stretches from Orcombe Point near Exmouth in East Devon to Old Harry Rocks near Swanage in East Dorset, a distance of 96 mi. Inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2001, the Jurassic Coast was the first wholly natural World Heritage Site to be designated in the United Kingdom. At Orcombe Point, the Geoneedle, an acute pyramidal sculpture, marks the end of the heritage site. The cliffs on part of the coast are being eroded as sections crumble away. The fossils found in the area and the coastal features of this dynamic coast, have advanced the study of earth sciences for more than two hundred years. The area covered by the designation comprises the land between the low water mark and the top of the cliffs or the back of the beach. The fossils found in abundance along this coastline provide evidence of how animals, during the Triassic this area was a desert, while in the Jurassic it was part of a tropical sea, and in the Cretaceous it was covered by swamps. Fossil groups found here include crustaceans, insects, molluscs, echinoderms, fish, amphibians, reptiles, at Lulworth Cove there is a fossil forest of conifers, tree-ferns and cycads. The Jurassic Coast consists of Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous cliffs, spanning the Mesozoic, documenting 185 million years of geological history. The site can be best viewed from the sea, when the nature of the rock strata becomes apparent. Further east at Ladram Bay. Around Lyme Regis and Charmouth the cliffs are of Jurassic clays and shale, chesil Beach is a good example of a barrier beach and stretches for 18 mi from Burton Bradstock to the Isle of Portland
7.
Durham, England
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Durham is a historic city and the county town of County Durham in North East England. The city lies on the River Wear, to the west of Sunderland, south of Newcastle upon Tyne, founded over the final resting place of St Cuthbert, its Norman cathedral became a centre of pilgrimage in medieval England. The cathedral and adjacent 11th-century castle were designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986, the castle has been the home of Durham University since 1832. HM Prison Durham is also located close to the city centre, the name Durham comes from the Celtic element dun, signifying a hill fort, and the Old Norse holme, which translates to island. The Lord Bishop of Durham takes a Latin variation of the name in his official signature. The city has been known by a number of names throughout history, the original Nordic Dun Holm was changed to Duresme by the Normans and was known in Latin as Dunelm. The modern form Durham came into use later in the citys history, archeological evidence suggests a history of settlement in the area since roughly 2000 BC. Local legend states that the city was founded in A. D.995 by divine intervention, Aldhun, Bishop of Chester-le-Street and leader of the order, decreed a holy fast of three days, accompanied by prayers to the saint. During the fast, Saint Cuthbert appeared to a monk named Eadmer. After Eadmers revelation, Aldhun found that he was able to move the bier, the legend of the Dun Cow, which is first documented in The Rites of Durham, an anonymous account about the Durham Cathedral, published in 1593, builds on Symeons account. According to this legend, by later that day, the monks came across a milkmaid at Mount Joy. She stated that she was seeking her lost dun cow, which she had last seen at Dun Holm, the monks, realising that this was a sign from the saint, followed her. They settled at a wooded hill-island – a high wooded rock surrounded on three sides by the River Wear, there they erected a shelter for the relics, on the spot where the Durham Cathedral would later stand. Symeon states that a modest wooden building erected there shortly later was the first building in the city, Bishop Aldhun subsequently had a stone church built, which was dedicated in September 998. It no longer remains, having been supplanted by the Norman structure, during the medieval period the city gained spiritual prominence as the final resting place of Saint Cuthbert and Saint Bede the Venerable. The shrine of Saint Cuthbert, situated behind the High Altar of Durham Cathedral, was the most important religious site in England until the martyrdom of St Thomas Becket at Canterbury in 1170, Saint Cuthbert became famous for two reasons. Firstly, the healing powers he had displayed in life continued after his death, with many stories of those visiting the saints shrine being cured of all manner of diseases. This led to him being known as the worker of England
8.
Giant's Causeway
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The Giants Causeway is an area of about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the result of an ancient volcanic eruption. It is also known as Clochán an Aifir or Clochán na bhFomhórach in Irish and it is located in County Antrim on the north coast of Northern Ireland, about three miles northeast of the town of Bushmills. It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986, in a 2005 poll of Radio Times readers, the Giants Causeway was named as the fourth greatest natural wonder in the United Kingdom. The tops of the columns form stepping stones that lead from the cliff foot, most of the columns are hexagonal, although there are also some with four, five, seven or eight sides. The tallest are about 12 metres high, and the lava in the cliffs is 28 metres thick in places. Much of the Giants Causeway and Causeway Coast World Heritage Site is today owned and managed by the National Trust, the remainder of the site is owned by the Crown Estate and a number of private landowners. As the lava cooled, contraction occurred, in many cases the horizontal fracture has resulted in a bottom face that is convex while the upper face of the lower segment is concave, producing what are called ball and socket joints. The size of the columns is primarily determined by the speed at which lava from a volcanic eruption cools, the extensive fracture network produced the distinctive columns seen today. The basalts were originally part of a volcanic plateau called the Thulean Plateau which formed during the Paleocene. According to legend, the columns are the remains of a built by a giant. The story goes that the Irish giant Fionn mac Cumhaill, from the Fenian Cycle of Gaelic mythology, was challenged to a fight by the Scottish giant Benandonner, Fionn accepted the challenge and built the causeway across the North Channel so that the two giants could meet. In one version of the story, Fionn defeats Benandonner, in another, Fionn hides from Benandonner when he realises that his foe is much bigger than he. Fionns wife, Oonagh, disguises Fionn as a baby and tucks him in a cradle, when Benandonner sees the size of the baby, he reckons that its father, Fionn, must be a giant among giants. He flees back to Scotland in fright, destroying the causeway behind him so that Fionn could not follow, across the sea, there are identical basalt columns at Fingals Cave on the Scottish isle of Staffa, and it is possible that the story was influenced by this. In overall Irish mythology, Fionn mac Cumhaill is not a giant, the Fomhóraigh are a race of supernatural beings in Irish mythology who were sometimes described as giants and who may have originally been part of a pre-Christian pantheon. In the caption to the plates French geologist Nicolas Desmarest suggested, for the first time in print, visitors can walk over the basalt columns which are at the edge of the sea, a half-mile walk from the entrance to the site. The Causeway was without a permanent visitors centre between 2000 and 2012, as the building, built in 1986, burned down in 2000. A privately financed proposal was given approval in 2007 by the Environment Minister
9.
Ironbridge Gorge
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The Ironbridge Gorge is a deep gorge, containing the River Severn in Shropshire, England. It was first formed by an overflow from the long drained away Lake Lapworth. Originally called the Severn Gorge, the gorge now takes its name from its famous Iron Bridge, the first iron bridge of its kind in the world, and a monument to the industry that began there. The bridge was built in 1779 to link the town of Broseley with the smaller mining town of Madeley. There are two reasons the site was so useful to the early industrialists, the raw materials, coal, iron ore, limestone and clay, for the manufacture of iron, tiles and porcelain are exposed or easily mined in the gorge. The deep and wide river allowed easy transport of products to the sea, the gorge carries the River Severn south towards the Bristol Channel. It was formed during the last ice age when the output from the north flowing river became trapped in a lake created when the Irish Sea ice sheet dammed the river. The level of the lake rose until it was able to flow over the hills to the south and this flow eroded a path through the hills forming the gorge and permanently diverting the Severn southwards. The Gorge is a parish of Telford and Wrekin borough. It is divided into three wards, Lightmoor, Ironbridge, and Coalport & Jackfield. The parish council has its offices and holds its meetings at the Maws Craft Centre in Jackfield, the population of this civil parish at the 2011 census was 3,275. Green Wood Centre is a leading body on the revival of the coppicing industry and has spent over twenty years training new coppice. Severn Gorge Countryside Trust manages most of the woodland, grassland and other countryside within the Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage Site, working with Severn Gorge Countryside Trust is BTCVs Green Gym which assist them on woodland work. Areas where youll be able to see the kind of work done are Benthall Edge, Lloyds Coppice, all within walking distance of the Ironbridge. Ironbridge Gorge Museums Geology of Shropshire Ironbridge Power Station Ironbridge Gorge Visitor Information Telford Culture Zone Tourism Website for Ironbridge Ironbridge Gorge
10.
Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City
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The Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City is a UNESCO designated World Heritage Site in Liverpool, England. It comprises six locations in the city centre of Liverpool including the Pier Head, Albert Dock and William Brown Street, in March 2004 ICOMOS recommended that UNESCO inscribe the Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City as a World Heritage Site. The area was inscribed during the 28th session of the World Heritage Committee in 2004 under cultural criteria ii, iii and its inclusion by UNESCO was attributed to the fact that it was the supreme example of a commercial port at a time of Britains greatest global influence. In 2012, the site was inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger due to the construction of Liverpool Waters project. It is one of two endangered World Heritage Sites in Europe. The Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City comprises six locations throughout the centre of the city, each of which relates to a different component. The inscripted sites extend for approximately 4 km north-south along the citys waterfront, in total it covers an area of 136 hectares. The Pier Head is the point of Liverpools waterfront and is dominated by three of its most recognisable landmarks, The Liver Building, The Port of Liverpool Building. Initially plans existed to add a fourth grace to area, named The Cloud and designed by Will Alsop, today, in what would have been its place, a new Museum of Liverpool opened on 19 July 2011. Behind the Port of Liverpool building is the art deco Georges Dock Ventilation Tower, listed Buildings The Albert Dock is a complex of dock buildings and warehouses located to the south of the Pier Head. The dock was home to many advances in docking technology including being the first to have hydraulic cranes, during World War II the buildings suffered significant damage and general docking decline in the city after the end of the war saw them fall rapidly into disrepair. Today they form a point for tourism in the city, being home to Tate Liverpool, Merseyside Maritime Museum. They also constitute the largest single collection of Grade I listed buildings anywhere in the UK, listed Buildings The Stanley Dock Conservation area is located to the north of the Pier Head and includes huge swathes of Liverpools docking heartland. Two of the Clarence Graving Docks are notable as the oldest docks still in use in the city today, dating back to 1830, amongst the buildings in the area are the Victoria Clock Tower and Stanley Dock Tobacco Warehouse, one of the largest brick buildings in the world. The area soon developed a cosmopolitan feel being home to various types of people including sea captains, merchants, traders and artisans. Today the area is known as Ropewalks, a reference to the number of roperies present in the area when Liverpool was one of the busiest ports in the world during the 18th and 19th centuries. Today a centre for commercial activity in the city, the area was included due to the nature of its development over three centuries and the grandeur of its architecture and monuments. Listed Buildings The William Brown street area is the point for many of Liverpools civic buildings forming a so-called cultural quarter
11.
New Lanark
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New Lanark is a village on the River Clyde, approximately 1.4 miles from Lanark, in Lanarkshire, and some 40 km southeast of Glasgow, Scotland. It was founded in 1786 by David Dale, who built cotton mills, Dale built the mills there in a brief partnership with the English inventor and entrepreneur Richard Arkwright to take advantage of the water power provided by the only waterfalls on the River Clyde. The New Lanark mills operated until 1968, after a period of decline, the New Lanark Conservation Trust was founded in 1974 to prevent demolition of the village. By 2006 most of the buildings have restored and the village has become a major tourist attraction. It is one of six UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Scotland, the New Lanark cotton mills were founded in 1786 by David Dale in a brief partnership with Richard Arkwright. M. W. Turner and many other artists, the mills used the recently developed water-powered cotton spinning machinery invented by Richard Arkwright. Dale sold the mills, lands and village in the early 19th century for £60,000, payable over 20 years, to a partnership that included his son-in-law Robert Owen. Owen, who became manager in 1800, was an industrialist who carried on his father-in-laws philanthropic approach to industrial working. New Lanark, with its social and welfare programmes, epitomised his Utopian socialism, the New Lanark mills depended upon water power. A dam was constructed on the Clyde above New Lanark and water was drawn off the river to power the mill machinery, the water first travelled through a tunnel, then through an open channel called the lade. It then went to a number of wheels in each mill building. It was not until 1929 that the last waterwheel was replaced by a water turbine, Water power is still used in New Lanark. A new water turbine has been installed in Mill Number Three to provide electricity for the tourist areas of the village, in Owens time some 2,500 people lived at New Lanark, many from the poorhouses of Glasgow and Edinburgh. Although not the grimmest of mills by far, Owen found the conditions unsatisfactory, the mills thrived commercially, but Owens partners were unhappy at the extra expense incurred by his welfare programmes. Unwilling to allow the mills to revert to the old ways of operating, in 1813 the Board forced an auction, hoping to obtain the town and mills at a low price but Owen and a new board that was sympathetic to his reforming ideas won out. New Lanark became celebrated throughout Europe, with many statesmen, reformers and they were astonished to find a clean, healthy industrial environment with a content, vibrant workforce and a prosperous, viable business venture all rolled into one. Owen’s philosophy was contrary to contemporary thinking, but he was able to demonstrate that it was not necessary for an enterprise to treat its workers badly to be profitable. Owen was able to show visitors the village’s excellent housing and amenities, the planning of employment in the mills alongside housing for the workers and services such as a school also makes the settlement iconic in the development of urban planning in the UK
12.
Old Town, Edinburgh
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The Old Town is the name popularly given to the oldest part of Scotlands capital city of Edinburgh. The area has preserved much of its street plan and many Reformation-era buildings. Together with the 18th-century New Town, it part of a protected UNESCO World Heritage Site. Narrow closes, often no more than a few feet wide, the area has a number of underground vaults and hidden passages that are relics of previous phases of construction. No part of the street is officially called The Royal Mile in terms of legal addresses, the actual street names are Castlehill, Lawnmarket, High Street, Canongate and Abbey Strand. This crag and tail landform was created during the last ice age when receding glaciers scoured across the land pushing soft soil aside, the hilltop crag was the earliest part of the city to develop, becoming fortified and eventually developing into the current Edinburgh Castle. The rest of the city grew slowly down the tail of land from the Castle Rock and this was an easily defended spot with marshland on the south and a man-made loch, the Nor Loch, on the north. Access up the road to the settlement was therefore restricted by means of various gates. The original strong linear spine of the Royal Mile only had narrow closes and these began to be supplemented from the late 18th century with wide new north–south routes, beginning with the North Bridge/South Bridge route, and then George IV Bridge. The Edinburgh City Improvement Act of 1866 further added to the north south routes and this was devised by the architects David Cousin and John Lessels. It had quite radical effects, St Marys Wynd was demolished and replaced by the much wider St Marys Street with all new buildings, Leith Wynd which descended from the High Street to the Low Calton was demolished. Jeffrey Street started from Leith Wynds junction with the High Street, opposite St Marys Street, east Market Street was built to connect Market Street and New Street. Blackfriars Street was created by the widening of Blackfriars Wynd, removing all the buildings on the east side, Chambers Street was created, replacing N College Street and removing Brown Square and Adam Square. It was named after the then Lord Provost of Edinburgh, Sir William Chambers, guthrie Street was created, linking the new Chambers Street to the Cowgate. Multi-storey dwellings became the norm from the 16th century onwards, the construction of new streets including North Bridge and South Bridge in the 18th century also created underground spaces, such as the Edinburgh Vaults below the latter. Traditionally buildings were less dense in the eastern, Canongate, section and this area underwent major slum clearance and reconstruction in the 1950s, thereafter becoming an area largely of Council housing. Further Council housing was built on the fringe of the Canongate in the 1960s and 1970s in an area generally called Dumbiedykes. From 1990 to 2010 major new housing schemes appeared throughout the Canongate and these were built to a much higher scale than the traditional buildings and have greatly increased the population of the area
