Discover Britain

Historic England grants “David Bowie bandstand” a grade II listing The Growth Summer Festival took place in Beckenham, south London, on 16 August 1969. Exactly half a century later, Historic England has granted a grade II listing to the Victorian b

In August, the charity English Heritage succeeded in completing a miracle worthy of an Arthurian legend. The two halves of Tintagel Castle, separated by a 190-foot gorge, have finally been reunited after more than 500 years. The narrow strip of land

Tom Hughes Landscape painter I grew up in the Oxfordshire village of Ewelme, near Wallingford Castle. I walked myself to and from school from about age seven and it was my favourite part of the day. Those daily trips definitely contributed to my lov

For any keen explorer of the British Isles, there is one meaningful type of symbol whose recurrence is all-pervasive. They are seen – often prominently, sometimes discretely – displayed up and down the kingdom, from Oxbridge colleges to the Houses of

Around midnight on 4 November 1605 a search party led by Sir Thomas Knyvett, keeper of Westminster Palace, discovered a man coming out of a storeroom: situated directly beneath the chamber where, the following day, MPs and Lords would gather for the

The opening of a remote Scottish B&B is usually a relatively low-key affair, but when The Granary Lodge recently launched, it attracted vast media attention, numerous headlines and multiple hits across social media. This remote and luxurious accommod

A home, a teacher, a fast and graceful competitor, a free ticket to Australia, a museum. Witness to the humdrum of pea soup suppers and tobacco chewing, and the setting for mutiny, murder and suicide. Cutty Sark, the world’s only surviving tea clippe

Proposals to build the world’s first underground railway came out of the search for a solution to London’s growing traffic problems and the congestion on its streets. By the mid-19th century, Britain’s capital was the largest and most prosperous city

Canterbury began life as an Iron Age settlement before the Cantiaci settled here in 1st century AD – the city’s name was derived from that of the Celtic tribe. They were quickly uprooted as Romans invaded in AD 43, imposing a grid structure on the st

For many of us, Goodwood is the quintessential English estate. Home to a dynasty of blue-blooded aristocrats, the Dukes of Richmond, it has all the ingredients of a traditional stately home, including a fabulous art collection, beautiful parkland, ex

When Boris Johnson became the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on 24 July 2019, he assumed an office and official residence at 10 Downing Street. This small London cul-de-sac has been central to British government life ever since 1735, when Sir R

In 2013, the Brecon Beacons in South Wales became the world’s fifth International Dark Sky Reserve, reinforcing its status as one of Britain’s most expansive, unspoilt areas of countryside. Yet, if you can pull your gaze earthwards, away from one of

Natives of north-east England will wax lyrical about Allen Banks [right] and Staward Gorge, but it remains something of a well-kept local secret. The 617-acre estate has the largest ancient woodland in the county, and red squirrels and various rare b

Witch trials may sound like the stuff of Stephen King novels or comic books, yet in the 17th century they were commonplace. Not only that but here in Britain, they would even lead to changes in the law on the advice of the king himself. In fact, the