Find the nearest History & Heritage
Our History and Heritage category brings all Coast Radar’s listings related to looking for something to do or a place to visit together where they offer some form of historic or heritage based activity.
Finding the best things to see and do on a day out with your family or friends is easy – simply explore the historic and heritage links below, hit the jump to my location button or use the search bar to plan your next UK and Ireland activity.
OR
- Saint Mawes Castle is among the best-preserved of Henry VIII’s coastal artillery fortresses. The castle was one of the chain of forts built between 1539 and 1545 to counter an invasion threat from Catholic France and Spain, it guarded the important anchorage of Carrick Roads, sharing the task with Pendennis Castle on the other side of the Fal estuary.
- Deal Castle is one of the earliest and most elaborate of a chain of Tudor artillery coastal forts, which also includes Calshot, Camber, Walmer and Pendennis Castles. The castle was built between 1539 and 1540, shaped like a Tudor rose, the rounded bastions were designed to deflect incoming cannon balls and acted as platforms from which to fire in all directions.
- Callendar House is a mansion set within the grounds of Callendar Park. Its present form, in the style of a French Renaissance chateau, dates from the 19th century, although at its core is a 14th-century tower house. During its 600-year history, Callendar House has played host to many prominent historical figures, including Mary, Queen of Scots, Oliver Cromwell, Bonnie Prince Charlie and Queen Victoria. The current building is by far the most substantial historical building in the area, with a 300 ft (91m) frontage. The grounds have significant gardens.
- The Black Watch Monument is a cairn topped with a statue of Private Farquhar Shaw of the Black Watch Regiment. The monument was unveiled in 1887 by the Marquis of Breadalbane to commemorate the first muster of the Regiment in May 1740.
- The Llywernog Silver Lead Mine is an 18th-century mine located in the heart of the Cambrian Mountains near Ponterwyd in Ceredigion. Saved in the 1970s from dereliction, the Llywernog mine was turned into a Discovery Park, the Silver Mountain Experience. Here you can experience an award-winning Heritage trail which takes you underground, past working water wheels and machines, as well as a panning shed for you to look for minerals yourself. Or you can also scare yourself silly in the ‘Black Chasm’, an underground ghosts and ghouls trail! The Silver Mountain park also has colourful indoor exhibitions and a great collection of Welsh silver-lead mining artefacts. The mine is open from March to October.
- Aldingham castle is an unusual 13th century motte and bailey castle and can still be seen on top of a sandy cliff overlooking Morecambe Bay.
- Whitby Abbey was founded in 657 and is located high on a cliff above the Yorkshire seaside town of Whitby. The Abbey were the inspiration for Bram Stoker’s gothic tale of ‘Dracula’.
- Kingston Russell Stone Circle is an 18 stone late Neolithic or early Bronze Age circle on a hilltop overlooking Abbotsbury and the sea. No facilities and parking is limited to the grass verge with then a walk along an often muddy farm track.
- The Campbeltown Cross is a medieval cross located in the centre of Campbeltown in Argyll. The cross has some fine medieval carving, with Celtic designs, dates from around 1380. The cross was erected at a church at Kilkivan before being moved to Campbeltown after the Reformation.
- Leeds Castle was built in 1119 to replace the earlier Saxon manor of Esledes, the castle became a royal palace in 1278 for King Edward I of England and his queen, Eleanor of Castile. Major improvements were made during his time, including the barbican, made up of three parts, each with its own entrance, drawbridge, gateway and portcullis. Leeds castle sits on two islands. The castle grounds have formal gardens, woodland walks, an aviary, a maze, a grotto, children’s play area and a museum of dog collars.
- Take a journey through the coal town and uncover the life of a coal mining community. Woodhorn also houses 800 years of Northumberland archival artefacts.
- Abbot Hall was built in 1759 by Colonel George Wilson, the second son of Daniel Wilson of Dallam Tower, a large house and country estate nearby. It was built on the site of the old Abbot’s Hall, which formerly stood roughly where the museum is today. Before the dissolution of the monasteries this was where the Abbot or his representative would stay when visiting from the mother church of St Mary’s, York. In 1962 it opened as an Art Gallery. The Abbot Hall Coffee House serves a menu of locally produced and freshly prepared sandwiches, soup, quiches and cakes. On sunny days there is seating available outside by the lawn overlooking the River Kent.
