Miscellaneous historic sites in United Kingdom

Calton Hill

Calton Hill in central Edinburgh is included in the city's UNESCO World Heritage Site. Views of, and from, the hill are often used in photographs and paintings of the city. Calton Hill is the headquarters of the Scottish Government, which is based at St Andrew's House, on the steep southern slope of the hill; with the Scottish Parliament Building, and other notable buildings, for example Holyrood Palace, lying near the f ...
Founded: | Location: Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Merchant Adventurers' Hall

The Merchant Adventurers' Hall in York is a medieval guildhall, the largest of its type remaining in England. It is a timber framed building on two floors, still used by the Merchant Adventurers' guild.
Founded: Medieval | Location: York, United Kingdom

Argyll's Lodging

Argyll"s Lodging is a 17th-century town-house in the Renaissance style, situated below Stirling Castle. It was a residence of the Earl of Stirling and later the Earls of Argyll. Built and decorated in Renaissance style, the original plan of the house was shaped like a P, with the upper part centered around three wings around a courtyard. During the early 19th century, the house was purchased by the British Army, whi ...
Founded: 17th century | Location: Stirling, United Kingdom

Abbot House

To the north of the abbey, on the corner of Maygate and Abbot Street, is the Category A listed Abbot House. This is the oldest secular building still standing in Dunfermline. The house was originally built in the mid-fifteenth century as a residence for Abbot Richard Bothwell and this role continued until Commendator George Durie left to move into new apartments at the Palace in 1540. Highlights include a frescoed wall p ...
Founded: 15th century | Location: Dunfermline, United Kingdom

Bishop's Palace

The Bishop"s Palace, Kirkwall was built at the same time as the adjacent St Magnus Cathedral. It was built for the cathedral"s first bishop, William the Old of the Norwegian Catholic church who took his authority from the Archbishop of Nidaros (Trondheim). The ruined structure now looks like a small castle. Originally it is thought to have been like a typical Royal Norwegian Palace, with a large rectangular hal ...
Founded: 12th century | Location: Kirkwall, United Kingdom

Grand Opera House

The Grand Opera House is a theatre in Belfast, Northern Ireland, designed by the most prolific theatre architect of the period, Frank Matcham. It opened on 23 December 1895. Variety programmes dominated in the 1920s and 1930s and the theatre saw performances by Gracie Fields, Will Fyffe and Harry Lauder. It became a repertory theatre during World War II and at the celebrations to mark the end of the war, Eise ...
Founded: 1895 | Location: Belfast, United Kingdom

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

You might not think of a botanic garden as a historic site, but the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, London (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) have a firm place in the history of gardening. Established from a collection of royal estates in 1759, they demonstrate different garden styles through the centuries. The gardens are also home to 44 historic buildings, including royal residences, Victorian greenhouses and garden follies.
Founded: 18th century | Location: Richmond, United Kingdom

King's College

King"s College in Old Aberdeen is a formerly independent university founded in 1495 and now an integral part of the University of Aberdeen. Its historic buildings are the centrepiece of the University of Aberdeen"s Old Aberdeen campus, often known as the King"s or King"s College campus. The focal point of the college, as well as its oldest building, is the late 15th century King"s College Chap ...
Founded: 1495 | Location: Aberdeen, United Kingdom

Royal Botanic Garden

The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) is a scientific centre for the study of plants, their diversity and conservation, as well as a popular tourist attraction. Originally founded in 1670 as a physic garden to grow medicinal plants, today it occupies four sites across Scotland — Edinburgh, Dawyck, Logan and Benmore — each with its own specialist collection. The RBGE's living collection consists of more than 13,302 ...
Founded: 1670/1820 | Location: Edinburgh, United Kingdom

St Andrew's in the Square

St Andrew"s in the Square is an 18th-century former church in Glasgow, considered one of the finest classical churches in Scotland, and now Glasgow"s Centre for Scottish Culture, promoting Scottish music, song and dance. The church was built between 1739 and 1756 by Master Mason Mungo Naismith, and designed by Allan Dreghorn. It was the first Presbyterian church built after the Reformation, and was commissioned ...
Founded: 1739-1756 | Location: Glasgow, United Kingdom

Earl's Palace

The ruins of the Earl"s Palace lie near St Magnus"s Cathedral. Built by Patrick, Earl of Orkney, construction began in 1607 and was largely undertaken via forced labour. Earl Patrick is widely acknowledged to have been one of the most tyrannical noblemen in Scotland"s history. The palace was built after the Earl decided that the accommodation provided by the Bishop"s Palace was inadequate for his need ...
Founded: 1607 | Location: Kirkwall, United Kingdom

Europa Point

Europa Point is the southernmost point of Gibraltar. On a clear day, views of North Africa can be seen across the Strait of Gibraltar including Ceuta and the Rif Mountains of Morocco; as well as the Bay of Gibraltar and the Spanish towns along its shores. There are five notable buildings, Harding"s Battery, the Ibrahim-al-Ibrahim Mosque, the Roman Catholic Shrine of Our Lady of Europe, the Europa Point Lighthouse an ...
Founded: 19th century | Location: Gibraltar, United Kingdom

Saint Michael's Cave

Saint Michael"s Cave is a series, or network of caves made of limestone, which are found on the Rock of Gibraltar. St Michaels Cave is located on what is called the Upper Rock, inside the Upper Rock Nature Reserve of Gibraltar. The cave was created by the slow seepage of rainwater through the rock, which turned into a carbonic acid solution that actually dissolved the rocks of the cave. The process made the tiny cra ...
Founded: 40,000 BCE | Location: Gibraltar, United Kingdom

Newport Transporter Bridge

Te Newport Transporter Bridge crosses the River Usk in Newport. It is one of fewer than 10 transporter bridges that remain in use worldwide; only a few dozen were ever built. It is one of only two operational transporter bridges in Britain, the other being the Tees Transporter Bridge. The bridge was designed by French engineer Ferdinand Arnodin. It was built in 1906. Newport Museum holds a silver cigar cutter which was ...
Founded: 1906 | Location: Newport, United Kingdom

Gibraltar Botanic Gardens

In 1816 the Botanical Gardens were commissioned by the British Governor of Gibraltar General George Don. It was his intention that the soldiers stationed in the fortress would have a pleasant recreational area to enjoy when off duty, and so inhabitants could enjoy the air protected from the extreme heat of the sun. The gardens were resurrected in 1991 by an external company when it was realised that since the 1970s they ...
Founded: 1816 | Location: Gibraltar, United Kingdom

Leighton Library

The Leighton Library is the oldest purpose built library in Scotland and also has a well-documented history as one of the earliest public subscription libraries in Scotland. Its collection of around 4000 volumes and 78 manuscripts from the 16th to 19th century is founded on the personal collection of Robert Leighton (1611–1684), Minister at Newbattle, Principal of Edinburgh University, Bishop of Dunblane and Archbishop ...
Founded: 1687 | Location: Dunblane, United Kingdom

Tobermory Distillery

Tobermory distillery is a Scotch whisky distillery founded as Ledaig distillery in 1798 by John Sinclair. The current buildings were constructed during that first period of occupation, and were licensed in 1823. It was acquired by John Hopkins & Co in 1890, and by Distillers Company in 1916 before closing in 1930 following a drop in the demand for whisky due to ten years of prohibition in the United States. The only d ...
Founded: 1798 | Location: Isle of Mull, United Kingdom

Monnow Bridge

Monnow Bridge in Monmouth is the only remaining fortified river bridge in Great Britain with its gate tower standing on the bridge. Such bridge towers were common across Europe from medieval times, but many were destroyed due to urban expansion. According to the local tradition, construction of Monnow Bridge began in 1272 to replace a 12th-century Norman timber bridge. Through the medieval era, the English Civil War, and ...
Founded: 1272 | Location: Monmouth, United Kingdom

Glenfiddich Distillery

Glenfiddich is a Speyside single malt Scotch whisky produced by William Grant & Sons in the Scottish burgh of Dufftown in Moray. Glenfiddich means 'valley of the deer' in Scottish Gaelic, which is why the Glenfiddich logo is a stag. The Glenfiddich Distillery was founded in 1886 by William Grant in Dufftown, Scotland, in the glen of the River Fiddich. The Glenfiddich single malt whisky first ran from the st ...
Founded: 1886 | Location: Dufftown, United Kingdom

Botanic Gardens of Belfast

The Botanic Gardens of Belfast opened in 1828 as the private Royal Belfast Botanical Gardens. It continued as a private park for many years, only opening to members of the public on Sundays prior to 1895. Then it became a public park in 1895 when the Belfast Corporation bought the gardens from the Belfast Botanical and Horticultural Society. Occupying 28 acres (110,000 m2) of south Belfast, the gardens are popular with ...
Founded: 1828 | Location: Belfast, United Kingdom

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Historic Site of the week

Château de Foix

The Château de Foix dominates the town of Foix. An important tourist site, it is known as a centre of the Cathars. Built on an older 7th-century fortification, the castle is known from 987. In 1002, it was mentioned in the will of Roger I, Count of Carcassonne, who bequeathed the fortress to his youngest child, Bernard. In effect, the family ruling over the region were installed here which allowed them to control access to the upper Ariège valley and to keep surveillance from this strategic point over the lower land, protected behind impregnable walls.

In 1034, the castle became capital of the County of Foix and played a decisive role in medieval military history. During the two following centuries, the castle was home to Counts with shining personalities who became the soul of the Occitan resistance during the crusade against the Albigensians. The county became a privileged refuge for persecuted Cathars.

The castle, often besieged (notably by Simon de Montfort in 1211 and 1212), resisted assault and was only taken once, in 1486, thanks to treachery during the war between two branches of the Foix family.

From the 14th century, the Counts of Foix spent less and less time in the uncomfortable castle, preferring the Governors' Palace. From 1479, the Counts of Foix became Kings of Navarre and the last of them, made Henri IV of France, annexed his Pyrrenean lands to France.

As seat of the Governor of the Foix region from the 15th century, the castle continued to ensure the defence of the area, notably during the Wars of Religion. Alone of all the castles in the region, it was exempted from the destruction orders of Richelieu (1632-1638).

Until the Revolution, the fortress remained a garrison. Its life was brightened with grand receptions for its governors, including the Count of Tréville, captain of musketeers under Louis XIII and Marshal Philippe Henri de Ségur, one of Louis XVI's ministers. The Round Tower, built in the 15th century, is the most recent, the two square towers having been built before the 11th century. They served as a political and civil prison for four centuries until 1862.

Since 1930, the castle has housed the collections of the Ariège départemental museum. Sections on prehistory, Gallo-Roman and mediaeval archaeology tell the history of Ariège from ancient times. Currently, the museum is rearranging exhibits to concentrate on the history of the castle site so as to recreate the life of Foix at the time of the Counts.