Sights in Southwest England
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No 1 Royal Crescent
Superbly restored to the minutest detail of its 1770 magnificence, the grand Palladian town house No 1 Royal Crescent is well worth visiting to see how people lived during Bath's glory days; staff dressed in period costume complete the effect.
The crowning glory of Georgian Bath and the city's most prestigious address, Royal Crescent, is a semicircular terrace of magnificent houses decorated with a continuous façade of Ionic columns. Designed by John Wood the Younger (1728-82) and built between 1767 and 1775, the houses would have originally been rented by the season by wealthy socialites.
A walk along Brock St leads to The Circus, a magnificent circle of 30 houses. Plaq…
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Bath Abbey
King Edgar was crowned in a church in Abbey Courtyard in 973 – though he had ruled since 959 – but the present Bath Abbey was built between 1499 and 1616, making it the last great medieval church raised in England. The nave's wonderful fan vaulting was erected in the 19th century.
Outside, the most striking feature is the west facade, where angels climb up and down stone ladders, commemorating a dream of the founder, Bishop Oliver King. Among those buried here are Sir Isaac Pitman, who devised the Pitman method of shorthand, and Beau Nash.
On the abbey's southern side, the steps lead down to the small Heritage Vaults Museum , which explores the abbey's history and its l…
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Brownsea Island
This small, wooded island in the middle of Poole harbour played a key role in a global movement famous for three-fingered salutes, shorts and toggles – Lord Baden-Powell staged the first ever scout camp here in 1907. Today trails weave through heath and woods, past peacocks, red squirrels, red deer and a wealth of birdlife.
There are free guided walks ; subjects include the wartime island, smugglers and pirates.
Boats run by Brownsea Island Ferries leave from Poole Quay (adult/child return £8.50/5.50) and Sandbanks (adult/child return £5/4). Services operate when the island is open only and the last boat is normally at about 4.30pm.
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Circus
Inspired by the Roman Colosseum, the Circus is another Georgian masterpiece of Wood the Elder's design. Arranged over three equal terraces, the 30 mansions overlook a garden populated by plane trees; a German bomb fell into the square in 1942 and demolished several houses, although they've since been rebuilt in seamless style. Look out for plaques to Thomas Gainsborough, Clive of India and David Livingstone, all former Circus residents.
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Doom Painting
In St Thomas's Church, the amazing doom painting is above the chancel arch, painted in 1475. It depicts Christ on the day of judgment, sitting astride a rainbow flanked by visions of heaven and hell; on the hell side, look out for two naked kings and a nude bishop, a miser with his moneybags, and a female alehouse owner, the only person allowed to hang on to her clothes.
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Museum of Costume
In the basement is the Museum of Costume, which houses a huge wardrobe of vintage outfits including some lavish 18th-century embroidered waistcoats, a collection of 500 handbags and several whalebone corsets which are, frankly, alarming.
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Wells Cathedral
Set in a marvellous medieval close, the Cathedral Church of St Andrew was built in stages between 1180 and 1508. The building incorporates several Gothic styles, but its most famous asset is the wonderful west front, an immense sculpture gallery decorated with more than 300 figures, built in the 13th century and restored to its original splendour in 1986. The facade would once have been painted in vivid colours, but has long since reverted to its original sandy hue. Apart from the figure of Christ, installed in 1985 in the uppermost niche, all the figures are original.
Inside, the most striking feature is the pair of scissor arches that separate the nave from the choir, de…
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Avebury Stone Circle
With a diameter of about 348m, Avebury is the largest stone circle in the world. It's also one of the oldest, dating from around 2500 to 2200 BC, between the first and second phase of construction at Stonehenge. The site originally consisted of an outer circle of 98 standing stones from 3m to 6m in length, many weighing up to 20 tons, carefully selected for their size and shape. The stones were surrounded by another circle delineated by a 5.5m-high earth bank and a 6m- to 9m-deep ditch. Inside were smaller stone circles to the north (27 stones) and south (29 stones).
The present-day site represents just a fraction of the circle's original size; many of the stones were buri…
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Salisbury Cathedral
England is endowed with countless stunning churches, but few can hold a candle to the grandeur and sheer spectacle of Salisbury Cathedral. Built between 1220 and 1258, the cathedral bears all the hallmarks of the early English Gothic style, with an elaborate exterior decorated with pointed arches and flying buttresses, and a sombre, austere interior designed to keep its congregation suitably pious.
Beyond the highly decorative West Front, a small passageway leads into the 70m-long nave, lined with handsome pillars of Purbeck stone. In the north aisle look out for a fascinating medieval clock dating from 1386, probably the oldest working timepiece in the world. At the easte…
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SS Great Britain
In 1843 Brunel designed the mighty SS Great Britain, the first transatlantic steamship to be driven by a screw propeller. For 43 years the ship served as a luxury ocean-going liner and cargo vessel, but huge running costs and mounting debts meant she was eventually sold off to serve as a troopship and coal hulk, a sorry fate for such an important vessel. By 1937 she was no longer watertight and was abandoned near Port Stanley in the Falklands, before finally being towed back to Bristol in 1970.
Since then a massive 30-year restoration program has brought SS Great Britain back to stunning life. The ship's rooms have been refurbished in impeccable detail, including the galle…
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Glastonbury Tor
The iconic hump of Glastonbury Tor looms up from flat fields to the northwest of town. This 160m-high grassy mound provides glorious views over the surrounding countryside, and a focal point for a bewildering array of myths. According to some it's the home of a faery king, while an old Celtic legend identifies it as the stronghold of Gwyn ap Nudd (ruler of Annwyn, the Underworld) – but the most famous legend identifies the tor as the mythic Isle of Avalon, where King Arthur was taken after being mortally wounded in battle by his nephew Mordred, and where Britain's 'once and future king' sleeps until his country calls again.
Whatever the truth of the legends, the tor has …
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Cathedral Church of St Peter
Magnificent in warm, honey-coloured stone, Exeter's Cathedral Church of St Peter is framed by lawns and wonky half-timbered buildings - a quintessentially English scene often peopled by picnickers snacking to the sound of the bells.
The site's been a religious one since at least the 5th century but the Normans started the current building in 1114 and the towers of today's cathedral date from that period. In 1270 Bishop Bronescombe remodelled the whole building, a process that took 90 years, and introduced a mix of Early English and Decorated Gothic styles. You enter via the gorgeous Great West Front. Above the door, scores of weather-worn figures line an image screen, whi…
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Roman Baths
Ever since the Romans arrived in Bath, life in the city has revolved around the three natural springs that bubble up near the abbey. In typically ostentatious style, the Romans constructed a glorious complex of bathhouses above these thermal waters to take advantage of their natural temperature – a constant 46°C. The buildings were left to decay after the Romans departed and, apart from a few leprous souls who came looking for a cure in the Middle Ages, it wasn't until the end of the 17th century that Bath's restorative waters again became fashionable.
The 2000-year-old baths now form one of the best-preserved ancient Roman spas in the world. The site gets very, very bu…
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Glastonbury Abbey
Legend has it that Joseph of Arimathea, great-uncle of Jesus, owned mines in this area and returned here with the Holy Grail (the chalice from the Last Supper) after the death of Christ. Joseph supposedly founded England's first church on the site, now occupied by the ruined abbey, but the earliest proven Christian connection dates from the 7th century, when King Ine gave a charter to a monastery in Glastonbury. In 1184 the church was destroyed by fire and reconstruction began in the reign of Henry II.
In 1191, monks claimed to have had visions confirming hints in old manuscripts that the 6th-century warrior-king Arthur and his wife Guinevere were buried in the abbey groun…
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Greenway
The enchanting summer home of crime writer Agatha Christie sits beside the River Dart near Dartmouth. Part-guided tours allow you to wander between rooms where the furnishings and knick-knacks are much as she left them. You can check out her hats in the lobby, books in her library and clothes in her wardrobe, and listen to her speak (via replica radio) in the drawing room.
Woods speckled with splashes of magnolias, daffodils and hydrangeas frame the water, while the planting creates intimate, secret spaces – the boathouse and views over the river are delightful. In Christie's book Dead Man's Folly, Greenway doubles as Nasse House, with the boathouse making an appearance …
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Pendennis Castle
Perched on the promontory of Pendennis Point, Pendennis Castle was constructed from 1540 to 1545 by Henry VIII as one of a chain of fortresses designed to defend the British mainland from Spanish and French invasion. Falmouth's deepwater harbour made the town a key strategic asset, and Pendennis was built, along with its sister fortress of St Mawes, to defend the harbour and the entrance to the Carrick Roads.
During the Civil War, the castle was engaged in a five-month siege under the command of Captain John Arundell of Trerice, and later became a defensive gun battery during WWII. These days the guns have fallen silent, but you can still experience a taste of Tudor warfa…
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Dartmoor National Park
At first glance, Dartmoor can come as something of a shock to the senses. The largest stretch of open moorland in the southwest, Dartmoor covers an area of 945sq km (368sq mi) between Plymouth and Exeter. It's a stark, wild and bleakly beautiful place, dotted with granite-topped hills, marshy bogs and patches of purple heather, as well as many weirdly shaped tors.
Dartmoor encloses some of the wildest, bleakest country in England: suitable terrain for the Hound of the Baskervilles (one of Sherlock Holmes' more notorious foes). The landscape and weather can make this an extremely eerie place; try not to think of An American Werewolf in London on a dark, foggy night. With …
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Cathedral Church of St Peter
At Exeter's heart is the magnificent Cathedral Church of St Peter, which has stood largely unchanged (barring some WWII bomb damage) for the last 600 years. It's one of the most graceful of England's cathedrals, with features including the 14th-century stained glass of the East Window and the largest section of Gothic rib-vaulting in the world.
There's been a church on this spot since AD 932; in 1050 the Saxon church was granted cathedral status, and between 1112 and 1133 a Norman cathedral replaced the original building. Inside, the carved Pulpitum Screen, completed in 1325, features some marvellous 17th century ecclesiastical paintings. Behind is the choir, decorated wi…
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Barbara Hepworth Museum & Sculpture Garden
Barbara Hepworth was one of the leading abstract sculptors of the 20th century, and a key figure in the St Ives art scene, so it seems fitting that her former studio has been transformed into a moving museum. The studio has remained practically untouched since her death in a fire in 1975, and the adjoining garden contains some of her most famous sculptures.
Hepworth was known for her use of geometric shapes and striking mix of natural materials and sculpted metal; many of her pieces show a fascination with pagan or primitive motifs, inspired by her fascination with Cornwall's prehistoric monuments. Works to look out for amongst the shrubs include the harplike Garden Sculp…
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Tinside Lido
Downhill from the Hoe, the Tinside Lido is an outdoor saltwater pool built in classic Art Deco style; it first opened to the public in 1935.
During the Lido's heyday in the 40s and 50s, thousands of Plymouthians flocked to the pool on summer days (backed by the soothing strains of a string orchestra) and during WWII it was the perfect place to cool off after cleaning up the rubble from the city's bomb-ravaged streets. On one memorable occasion, some 3000 people took to the water in a very un-British display of high spirits. Sadly, package holidays took their toll on the Lido in the 70s and 80s, and the pool fell into disrepair, finally closing in 1992. It's since been res…
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Truro Cathedral
Built on the site of a 16th-century parish church in soaring Gothic Revival style, Truro Cathedral was finally completed in 1910, making it the first new cathedral in England since London's St Paul's. It contains a soaring high-vaulted nave, some fine Victorian stained glass and the impressive Father Willis Organ.
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Thermae Bath Spa
Larking about in the Roman Baths might be off the agenda, but thankfully you can still sample the city's curative waters at the Thermae Bath Spa. Incorporating the old Cross Bath into a shell of Georgian stone, stainless steel and plate glass, the ferociously modern building has ruffled the feathers of many Bathonian purists, but whatever you make of the architecture, the hot springs themselves are a treat.
Packages range from a dip in one of the heated pools (choose from the Cross Bath or the New Royal Bath, which includes a choice of pools, steam rooms and waterfall shower) to exotic treatments including peat baths, body cocoons, Vichy showers and the ominous-sounding '…
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Mayflower Steps
The Mayflower Steps mark the final UK departure point of the Pilgrim Fathers - the band of settlers who founded New England's first permanent colony at Plymouth (Massachusetts) in 1620. Having left Southampton and been forced into Dartmouth because of an unseaworthy ship, they finally left Plymouth (England) on board the Mayflower. The rest, in this case the founding of America, is history.
The steps themselves are small and although they look old, they aren't the original ones (you have to expect a bit of a rebuild over the last 400 years). The surrounding plaques help you navigate Plymouth's past - they mark the departure of the first emigrant ships to New Zealand, Capt…
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Eden Project
The giant biomes of the Eden Project - the largest greenhouses in the world - have become one of Cornwall's most celebrated landmarks. Tropical, temperate and desert environments have been recreated inside the biomes, so a single visit can carry you from the steaming rainforests of South America to the dry deserts of Northern Africa.
There's an education centre, constructed according to the Fibonacci sequence, one of nature's most fundamental building blocks.
In summer the biomes become a spectacular backdrop to a series of gigs known as the Eden Sessions (artists have included José Gonzalez, Goldfrapp and The Magic Numbers) and from November to February Eden transforms …
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Tate St Ives
The artwork almost takes second place to the surroundings at the stunning Tate St Ives, which hovers above Porthmeor Beach. Built in 1993, the gallery contains work by celebrated local artists, including Terry Frost, Patrick Heron and Barbara Hepworth, and hosts regular special exhibitions. On the top floor there's a stylish cafe-bar with imaginative bistro food and some of the best sea views in St Ives. A joint ticket with the Barbara Hepworth museum can be purchased for adult/child £8.75/4.50.
There are plenty more galleries around town; at the Sloop Craft Market you'll find a treasure trove of tiny artists' studios selling everything from handmade jewellery to driftwoo…
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