871 Best Sights in England

Built in 1546, the college of Christ Church is referred to by its members as "The House." This is the site of Oxford's largest quadrangle, Tom Quad, named after the huge bell (6¼ tons) that hangs in the Sir Christopher Wren–designed gate tower and rings 101 times at 9:05 every evening in honor of the original number of Christ Church scholars. The vaulted, 800-year-old chapel in one corner has been Oxford's cathedral since the time of Henry VIII.

The college's medieval dining hall contains portraits of many famous alumni, including 13 of Britain's prime ministers, but you'll recognize it from its recurring role in the Harry Potter movies (although they didn't actually film here, the room was painstakingly re-created in a studio). Plan carefully, as the dining hall is often closed between noon and 2 during term time. Lewis Carroll, the author of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, was a teacher of mathematics here for many years; a shop opposite the meadows on St. Aldate's sells Alice paraphernalia. The college also moonlights as a B&B in summer, renting vacant student dorms to the public at around £60 a night. 

This connoisseur's delight in Canterbury Quadrangle exhibits works by the Italian masters as well as Hals, Rubens, and van Dyck. Drawings in the 2,000-strong collection are shown on a changing basis.

This is the 1729 masterpiece of Sir Christopher Wren's associate Nicholas Hawksmoor, one of his six London churches and an example of English baroque at its finest. It was commissioned as part of Parliament's 1711 Fifty New Churches Act, passed in response to the influx of immigrants with the idea of providing for the religious needs of the "godless thousands"—and to help ensure they joined the Church of England, as opposed to such nonconformist denominations as the Protestant Huguenots. (It must have worked; you can still see gravestones with epitaphs in French in the crypt.) As the local silk industry declined, the church fell into disrepair, and by 1958 the structure was crumbling, with the looming prospect of demolition. But after 25 years—longer than it took to build the church—and a huge local fundraising effort, the structure was meticulously restored and is a joy to behold, from the colonnaded Doric portico and tall spire to its soaring, heavily ornamented plaster ceiling. Its excellent acoustics make it a superb concert venue; its organ, which was built in 1735, is thought to have been played by Handel.

To see the way a college has grown over the centuries you could not do better than a visit here. The main gateway bears the enormous coat of arms of its patroness, Lady Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII, who established the institution in 1505. It leads into a fine courtyard, with the chapel framed by an ancient magnolia. In the dining hall hang portraits of John Milton and Charles Darwin, two of the college's most famous students. Next, walk past a fellows' building credited to Inigo Jones, who transformed English architecture in the early 17th century, to the spacious garden (once a favorite haunt of Milton’s), and finally to a modern ziggurat-like confection from the 1960s.

This enormous gate, built in 1517, leads into the cathedral close. As you pass through, look up at the sculpted heads of two young figures: Prince Arthur, elder brother of Henry VIII, and the young Catherine of Aragon, to whom Arthur was married in 1501 (when he was just 15). He died shortly afterward, and Catherine married Henry. Jump forward 25 years, and Henry was king. But they had produced no male children, a fact Henry attributed to God's wrath for marrying his sister-in-law. The Pope refused to grant him a divorce, but Henry went ahead and did it anyway, creating an irrevocable breach with the Roman Catholic Church and altering the course of English history forever.

Outside the gate is the tiny Buttermarket, an old dairy market square with a sweet name and an unsavory past. Before the 16th century, it was called "the Bullstake," because animals were tied here and tortured (a popular activity of the time known as "baiting") before they were slaughtered. Today, it's surrounded by bars and restaurants and leads onto pretty Mercery Lane, with its medieval-style cottages and massive, overhanging timber roofs.

At the top of the hill at the center of Rye, this classic English village church is more than 900 years old and encompasses a number of architectural styles. The turret clock dates to 1561 and still keeps excellent time; its huge pendulum swings inside the church nave. Climb the tower for amazing views of the surrounding area.

Built by Bristol merchants who wanted a place in which to pray for the safe (and profitable) voyages of their ships, the rib-vaulted, 14th-century church was called "the fairest in England" by Queen Elizabeth I. High up on the nave wall hang the arms and armor of Sir William Penn, father of the founder of Pennsylvania. The church is a five-minute walk from Temple Meads train station toward the docks.

Set apart from the village on a hill, this grand 15th-century church was built between 1480 and 1520 by cloth merchant Thomas Spring. The height of its tower (141 feet) was meant to surpass those of the neighboring churches—and perhaps to impress rival towns. The rest of the church is perfectly proportioned, with intricately carved wood.

John Wood designed the masterful Circus, a circle of curving, perfectly proportioned Georgian houses interrupted just three times for intersecting streets. Wood died shortly after work began; his son, the younger John Wood, completed the project. Notice the carved acorns atop the houses: Wood nurtured the myth that Prince Bladud founded Bath, ostensibly with the help of an errant pig rooting for acorns (this is one of a number of variations of Bladud's story). A garden with large plane trees fills the center of the Circus. The painter Thomas Gainsborough (1727–88) lived at No. 17 from 1760 to 1774.

Set over the River Itchen at the east end of the High Street, this rare surviving example of an 18th-century urban water mill, complete with small island garden, is probably the oldest working water mill in Britain, with timbers dating back to the 11th century. The medieval corn mill on the site was rebuilt in 1744 and remained in use until the early 20th century. Restored by the National Trust in 2004, it still operates as a working mill on weekends, and you can purchase stone-ground flour produced here in the gift shop. Kids will love the live camera feed that tracks the river's resident otters.

Appealing to adults and children alike, this imaginative, well-presented museum reflects Winchester's history from the Iron Age to the present. Roman artifacts include jewelry and well-restored mosaic floors, and a gallery spanning 1,000 years of Anglo-Saxon and medieval history displays silver coins, sculptures, agricultural tools, and everyday items such as the mayor's wooden toilet seat. Other collections feature two of Jane Austen's purses and a detailed scale model of the city created in Victorian times. The hands-on activities include a history detective quiz and costumes from every time period, starting with the Romans, that kids can try on. Free 45-minute guided museum tours are offered at 10:30 am, noon, 1:45 pm, and 3:15 pm daily. Pick up an audio guide at the entrance (£2) to get the most out of the museum.

Almost 3 miles of medieval town walls remain around York, more than any other city in England. In the 9th century, invading Vikings buried the original Roman defensive walls, built some 1,900 years ago, under earthen ramparts topped with wooden stakes. These in turn were replaced by the current stone walls in the 13th and 14th centuries. In the mid-19th century, the walls, which had fallen into disrepair, were restored and maintained for public access. You can now walk along a narrow paved path at the top and enjoy outstanding views. In spring, the remains of the Viking embankment at the base are alive with daffodils.

The walls are crossed periodically by York's distinctive "bars," or fortified gates: the portcullis on Monk's Bar on Goodramgate is still in working order, and Walmgate Bar in the east is the only gate in England with an intact barbican, although one scarred by the cannonballs fired during the Civil War. Bootham Bar in Exhibition Square was the defensive bastion for the north road, and Micklegate Bar, in the city's southwest corner, was traditionally the monarch's entrance. To access the path and lookout towers, find a staircase at one of the many breaks in the walls. The whole circuit takes about two hours.

Accessible from several points and providing splendid views of Chester and its surroundings, the city walls are the country's most complete Roman and medieval defensive walls. The whole circuit is 2 miles, but if your time is short, climb the steps at Newgate and walk along toward Eastgate to see the great ornamental Eastgate Clock, erected to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee in 1897. Lots of small shops near this part of the walls sell old books, old postcards, antiques, and jewelry. Where the Bridge of Sighs (named after the enclosed bridge in Venice that it closely resembles) crosses the canal, descend to street level and walk up Northgate Street into Market Square.

The London home of the Queen Mother for nearly 50 years until her death in 2002, Clarence House is one of the residences of King Charles III and his wife, Camilla, the Queen Consort (though since coming to the throne his official London residence is Buckingham Palace). The Regency mansion was built in 1828 by John Nash for the Duke of Clarence (later to become William IV) who considered next-door St. James's Palace to be too cramped for his liking, although postwar renovation work means that little remains of Nash's original. Since then it has remained a royal home for princesses, dukes, and duchesses, including Queen Elizabeth II, as a newlywed before her coronation.

The rooms have been sensitively preserved to reflect the Queen Mother's taste, with the addition of many works of art from the Royal Collection, including works by Winterhalter, Augustus John, and Sickert. The house is rarely open to visitors, and books out well in advance whenever it does, so check ahead of your visit.

This rather battered-looking keep atop a steep grassy mound is the largest remnant of York Castle, one of medieval England's greatest fortresses and the administrative center of the northern part of the country. The squat stone tower, used as a treasury and later as a prison, dates from the mid-13th century. The timber Norman tower that preceded it, built in 1068 by William the Conqueror, was destroyed in 1190 when more than 150 Jews locked themselves inside to escape from a violent mob. Trapped with no food or water, they committed mass suicide by setting their own prison aflame. From the top of the tower, you have good views of the city. Following a major conservation project, walkways now open up rooms hidden since a fire in 1684, and there's a viewing platform that offers still more wonderful vistas.

A monument to Victorian engineering, this 702-foot-long bridge spans the Avon Gorge. Work began on Isambard Kingdom Brunel's design in 1831, but the bridge wasn't completed until 1864. Guided tours lasting up to one hour take place on weekends and bank holidays at 2, departing from the tollbooth at the Clifton end of the bridge; call or consult the website for monthly tours of the Underground Vaults. At the far end of the bridge, the Clifton Suspension Bridge Visitor Centre has an engaging exhibition on the bridge and its construction, including a range of videos and hands-on experiences. Near the bridge lies Clifton Village, studded with cafés, boutiques, antiques shops, and smart crafts shops in its lanes and squares. Bus No. 8 from Bristol Temple Meads Station and the city center stops in Clifton Village.

This attraction devoted to shedding light on life in a medieval prison is built on the site of the original "Clink," the oldest of Southwark's five prisons and the reason why "the clink" is now slang for jail (the original medieval building was burned to the ground in 1780). Owned by the bishops of Winchester from 1144 to 1780, it was the first prison to detain women, many for prostitution. Because of the bishops' relaxed attitude toward the endemic trade—they decided to license prostitution rather than ban it—the area within their jurisdiction was known as "the Liberty of the Clink." Subsequent prisoners included Puritans who would later sail on the Mayflower to find more religious freedom. Inside, you'll discover how grisly a Tudor prison could be, operating on a code of cruelty, deprivation, and corruption. The prison was only a small part of Winchester Palace, a huge complex that was the bishops' London residence. You can still see the remains of the early 13th-century Great Hall, with its famous rose window, next to Southwark Cathedral.

Described by Queen Victoria as a "bijou of taste," Cliveden (pronounced Cliv-dn) is a magnificent country mansion that, for more than 300 years, has lived up to its Georgian heritage as a bastion of aesthetic delights. The house, set on 376 acres of gardens and parkland above the River Thames, was rebuilt in 1851; but it was the rich and powerful Astor family, who purchased it in 1893, that made Cliveden famous. In the 1920s and 1930s this was the meeting place for the influential salon known as the Cliveden Set—a group of strongly conservative thinkers who many accused of being Nazi sympathizers. Its doyenne was Nancy Astor, an American by birth, who became the first woman to sit in the British Parliament.

The ground-floor rooms of the house are open for short guided tours from March through September, as is the Octagon Chapel, with its beautiful gilt-painted ceiling and wall panels. You can wander the lovely property, which includes a water garden, miles of woodland and riverbank paths, a kids' play area, and a yew-tree maze. Book your timed ticket for the house beforehand or early on the day. Boat hire and trips are available daily in July and August. Note that opening times of the house can be unpredictable, even at the busiest times of the year; always call before setting out.

This brick-and-tile cottage served as the retreat of Army officer, writer, and diplomat T. E. Lawrence, better known as Lawrence of Arabia, prior to his death in a motorcycle accident on the road from Bovington in 1935. The house remains very much as he left it, with photos and memorabilia from his time in the Middle East. It's particularly atmospheric on a gloomy day, as there's no electric light. Clouds Hill is 8 miles northwest of Corfe Castle. Admission is by prebooked guided tour only.

You'll have to pass through the Visitor Centre to enter the village, where you can see a 20-minute film that puts Clovelly into context and book walking tours of the village (tours can also be pre-booked to guarantee a spot at a particular time). The admission fee (£9.50) includes parking. Clovelly's specific attractions include a 1930s-style fisherman's cottage and an exhibition about Victorian writer Charles Kingsley, who lived here as a child. To avoid the worst crowds, arrive early or late in the day.

Lyme Regis is famous for its curving stone harbor breakwater known as the Cobb, which dates back to the 13th century when it was commissioned by King Edward I to improve the harbor. It has subsequently been rebuilt several times over the centuries due to storm damage. The Duke of Monmouth landed here in 1685 during his ill-fated attempt to overthrow his uncle, James II, and it features prominently in the movie of John Fowles's novel The French Lieutenant's Woman, as well as in the 1995 film version of Jane Austen's Persuasion. There's a sweeping coastal view to Chesil Beach to the east. You can walk on the wall, but take care; the surface is uneven.

Just a mile outside the heart of Torquay by bus or car lies this chocolate-box village with thatched cottages, a 14th-century forge, and the square-tower Church of St. George and St. Mary. Repair to the Weavers Cottage Tea Garden for refreshments, or head to the Drum Inn, designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens in 1936 to be the fulcrum of a new (but never completed) model village. Nearby lies Cockington Court—a grand estate with crafts studios, shops, and the Seven Dials Café. Cockington has, however, more than a touch of the faux: cottages that don't sell anything put up signs to this effect.

On paper this museum might not be the obvious choice for a fun afternoon on your vacation, but it’s actually a wonderful time capsule of an interesting and important part of Birmingham’s industrial history. It was on this site in the Jewellery Quarter that Alfred and Edwin Newman (the Newman Brothers, who previously had been accomplished brass fitters) first started making coffins in the late Victorian era. The company quickly established itself as the area's best coffin-makers and was soon making coffins for the likes of Queen Mary, King George V, and Winston Churchill. Though the company fell into decline in the 1960s, eventually closing in the 1990s, guided tours now let you clock in as workers once did before taking you behind the scenes in the manager's office (where you can listen to spooky audio of one of the most prominent figures in the company’s history), onto the factory floor, and into the shroud room. Guided tours occur at 11 am from Friday through Sunday, with self-guided tours every half hour from noon to 3 pm. There are also guided tours at 11 am, noon, 1 pm, and 3 pm on Thursday and at 11 am and 1 pm on Wednesday.

Nobody knows for sure whether Colchester is, as it claims, the oldest town in Britain. What’s certain, however, is that it was a major stronghold during the Roman occupation. You can see the impressive Roman amphitheater, where parts of the walls and floor are visible. Sections of the original Roman walls are also still standing. Colchester Castle was built on the foundations of the huge Roman Temple of Claudius. Colchester is off the A12, 9 miles southwest of Dedham.

The 51-mile Coleridge Way runs between Nether Stowey (site of Coleridge's home in the Quantock Hills) and Lynmouth, passing through the northern fringes of the Quantock Hills, the isolated villages of the Brendon Hills, and along the Exmoor coast.

Crowded with gilded, carved, and painted tombs, the Beauchamp Chantry within this church is considered one of the finest medieval chapels in England. Despite the wealth of late-medieval and Tudor chivalry, the chapel was built in the 15th century in honor of the somewhat-less-than-chivalrous Richard de Beauchamp, who consigned Joan of Arc to burn at the stake. Alongside his impressive effigy in gilded bronze lie the fine tombs of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, adviser and favorite of Queen Elizabeth I, and Dudley’s brother, Ambrose. The church’s chancel, distinguished by its flying ribs, houses the alabaster table tomb of Thomas Beauchamp, one of the first Knights of the Order of the Garter, and his wife, Katherine Mortimer. In the Norman crypt, look for the rare ducking stool (a chair in which people were tied for public punishment). It is possible to take part in traditional brass rubbings for free, or for a fee you can climb the tower for sweeping views of the Warwickshire countryside. Check the website for seasonal opening times. 

A neoclassical country mansion remodeled in the 1760s by Scottish architect Robert Adam has been repurposed by the Peter Moores Foundation as an art museum with more than 800 works. The house is set on 120 acres of rolling parkland landscaped by Capability Brown. Intriguingly varied works of art are beautifully displayed in restored rooms: British folk art and portraits, textiles, Chinese pottery and bronzes, southern Italian art from 1600 to 1800, and German art from 1450 to 1600 are the main focus. Tours take place Tuesday through Sunday and bank holidays at noon. It's 10 miles east of Stratford; by car, take the B4086.

The National Trust's Victorian steam yacht and the slightly more utilitarian Coniston Launch both leave from the town's spruced-up waterside satellite, a 15-minute stroll from the center. There's a parking lot, a smart café, and useful boat- and bike-hire options at the Coniston Boating Centre ( conistonboatingcentre.co.uk), run by the Lake District National Park Authority. Launched in 1859 and restored in the 1970s, the Steam Yacht runs between Coniston Pier, Brantwood, and Park-a-Moor at the south end of Coniston Water daily from late March through October (half-lake cruise £17.50). The Coniston Launch ( conistonlaunch.co.uk ) runs a direct departure to Brantwood (£10.50) and has other sightseeing routes, though it's a little less romantic. Both will get you across the lake to Brantwood, and a stop at Monk Coniston jetty, at the lake's northern tip, connects to the footpaths through the Monk Coniston Estate and the beauty spot of Tarn Hows.