Historic Site sights in England
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Horse Guards Parade
In a more accessible version of Buckingham Palace’s Changing of the Guard, the mounted troopers of the Household Cavalry change guard here daily, at the official entrance to the royal palaces (opposite the Banqueting House). A lite-pomp version takes place at 4pm when the dismounted guards are changed. On the Queen’s official birthday in June, the Trooping of the Colour is also staged here.
Fittingly, as the parade ground and its buildings were built in 1745 to house the Queen’s so-called Life Guards, this will be the pitch for the beach volleyball during the London 2012 Olympics (see www.london2012.org).
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Bishops' Palace
Beside Lincoln Cathedral are the time-ravaged but still imposing ruins of the 12th-century Bishops' Palace, gutted by parliamentary forces during the Civil War. From here, the local bishops once controlled a diocese stretching from the Humber to the Thames. Entertaining audioguides are included in admission.
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Nash's House & New Place
When Shakespeare retired, he swapped the bright lights of London for a comfortable town house at New Pl, where he died of unknown causes in April 1616. The house was demolished in 1759, but an attractive Elizabethan knot garden occupies part of the grounds. Archaeologists are digging beneath the plot in search of Shakespearean treasures (see www.digforshakespeare.com for details). Recent finds are displayed in adjacent Nash's House – where Shakespeare's granddaughter Elizabeth lived – along with other displays describing the town's history and a collection of 17th-century furniture and tapestries.
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Battle Abbey
Another day, another photogenic ruin? Hardly. On this spot raged the pivotal battle in the last successful invasion of England in 1066: an event with unparalleled impact on the country's subsequent social structure, architecture and well…pretty much everything. Four years after, the conquering Normans began constructing an abbey in the middle of the battlefield, a penance ordered by the Pope for the loss of life incurred here.
Only the foundations of the original church remain, the altar's position marked by a plaque – also supposedly the spot England's King Harold famously took an arrow in his eye. Other impressive monastic buildings survive and make for atmospheric…
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