UNESCO World Heritage Sites

Posted by Mike Gerrard Aug 30, 2008

I've recently finished writing a book of what in my view are the 50 best places to visit in Europe. It was a challenge compiling the list – you should try it sometime – and although I never thought about the UNESCO list when I was preparing my own, many of the ones I chose had been singled out by UNESCO for special status.

When I checked their list I was surprised how many there were in the United Kingdom, and how few there were in Ireland – just two! Given the beauty and history of that country, I find it astonishing.

Just out of interest and for the record, here first is the list for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland:

• Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd
• Durham Castle and Cathedral
• Giant's Causeway and Causeway Coast
• Ironbridge Gorge
• St Kilda
• Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites
• Studley Royal Park including the Ruins of Fountains Abbey
• Blenheim Palace
• City of Bath
• Frontiers of the Roman Empire
• Westminster Palace, Westminster Abbey and Saint Margaret's Church
• Canterbury Cathedral, St Augustine's Abbey, and St Martin's Church
• Henderson Island
• Tower of London
• Gough and Inaccessible Islands
• Old and New Towns of Edinburgh
• Maritime Greenwich
• Heart of Neolithic Orkney
• Blaenavon Industrial Landscape
• Derwent Valley Mills
• Dorset and East Devon Coast
• New Lanark
• Saltaire
• Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
• Liverpool – Maritime Mercantile City
• Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape

By contrast Ireland has only two sites on the UNESCO list, which seems unbelievable. They are:

• Archaeological Ensemble of the Bend of the Boyne
• Skellig Michael