12 Wonders of Britain Magazine

A SUPPLEMENT TO BRITAIN – THE OFFICIAL M AGAZINE

12 WONDERS OF BRITAIN

SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS

The ancient landscape untouched by time

THE GIANT’S CAUSEWAY

Myths and legends of the Antrim coast

STONEHENGE Stand in the shadow of our national icon

12 wonders of britain

EDITOR'S LETTER

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In Britain the term ‘national treasure’ is often overused, applied to people or places that, while much loved, are not necessarily the cream of the crop.

This is why we decided to compose our own Wonders of Britain collection to bring you our elite selection of the most awe-inspiring places across the UK, and it has certainly got the office talking.

After much debate we realised that we couldn’t restrict our Wonders to a mere seven, oh no – there are so many places of merit that it would be impossible – so we settled on 12.

To earn a spot in our list, each of our Wonders had to meet certain criteria: they had to be unique in their offering and they had to make us want to visit them again and again.

Over the next 32 pages you’ll read about these 12 genuine national treasures, some of them natural and some of them manmade. We hope you approve of our selection but if we’ve missed off your favourite, then please do let us know, but, remember, we only had 12 places.

NATURAL BEAUTIES Sometimes a scene just takes your breath away – we introduce three of the most awe-inspiring backdrops across the UK.

13 ROYAL REGALIA Our fourth wonder is the Royal Family's most valuable cache, the Crown Jewels.

We explore their history and the story of the man who tried to steal them

16 MANMADE MARVELS Far from being natural phenomena, some of our most precious treasures are actually the handiwork of man through the ages and each of these wonderful examples has been awarded World Heritage Site status

23 HERITAGE CITIES If you want to get a real sense of what life was like in Norman, medieval or Georgian Britain, then visit one of our three heritage cities, where history surrounds you

Sally Coffey, Editor A SUPPLEMENT TO BRITAIN – THE OFFICIAL M AGAZINE

PHOTO: © ROYAL COLLECTION TRUST/© HER MAJESTY QUEEN ELIZABETH II 2015

12 WONDERS OF BRITAIN

28 THE BRITISH MUSEUM

SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS

Our 12th wonder is Britain’s most celebrated museum, a true treasure trove of global antiquities

The ancient landscape untouched by time

THE GIANT’S CAUSEWAY

Myths and legends of the Antrim coast

STONEHENGE Stand in the shadow of our national icon

BRITAIN is the official magazine of VisitBritain, the national tourism agency. BRITAIN is published by The Chelsea Magazine Company Ltd, Jubilee House, 2 Jubilee Place, London SW3 3TQ Tel: 020 7349 3700 Fax: 020 7901 3701 Email: info@britain-magazine.com

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13 Editor Sally Coffey Art Editor Clare White Deputy Editor Nicola Rayner Managing Director Paul Dobson Deputy Managing Director Steve Ross Advertisement Manager Natasha Syed Sales Executives Terri Weyers & Elizabeth Dack Printed in England by William Gibbons Production All Points Media

© The Chelsea Magazine Company Ltd 2015/2016. All rights reserved. Text and pictures are copyright restricted and must not be reproduced without permission of the publishers.

The information contained in this supplement has been published in good faith and every effort has been made to ensure its accuracy. However, where appropriate, you are strongly advised to check opening times, dates, etc, before making final arrangements. All liability for loss, disappointment, negligence or damage caused by reliance on the information contained within this publication is hereby excluded. The opinions expressed by contributors to BRITAIN are not necessarily those of the publisher or VisitBritain.

Cover image: Stonehenge Photo: © Travel Pix Collection/AWL Images Ltd

BRITAIN | 12 WONDERS OF BRITAIN

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Beauties A NATURAL

Sometimes a scene just takes your breath away – here are three of the most awe-inspiring backdrops in the UK that have inspired myths, legends and some great works of literature

This region, which encompasses 885 square miles of luscious lakes and valleys, is the British outdoors at its best. So enchanting are the woodlands and fells that writers such as Beatrix Potter – whose 150th anniversary will be celebrated here in 2016 – and William Wordsworth were inspired to weave the dramatic landscapes into their prose.

It was Wordsworth’s A Guide Through the District of the Lakes, published in 1810, which first encouraged mass tourism to the area, while writer Arthur Ransome set the first of his Swallows and Amazons stories here, a film adaptation of which will be released in 2016.

The wildlife-rich scenery has been protected as a national park since 1951 and mostly consists of moorland and fell. At Skiddaw, and in the south, rolling hills of the sort that influenced the writings of Wordsworth and his contemporaries (known as the Lake Poets) contrast with the rugged terrain. Meanwhile, Neolithic stone circles like Castlerigg, and Roman forts such as Hardknott, reflect the region’s history.

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PHOTOS: © NATIONAL TRUST IMAGES/JOE CORNISH/VISITENGLAND/ALEX HARE/SHUTTERSTOCK

THE LAKE DISTRICT, CUMBRIA

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PHOTO: © NATIONAL TRUST IMAGES/JOE CORNISH

THE GIANT’S CAUSEWAY, ANTRIM, NORTHERN IRELAND The puzzling geometric riddle that is the Giant’s Causeway – a stepped landscape of around 40,000 interlocking basalt columns that lies about three miles northeast of the whiskey town of Bushmills, in Antrim, Northern Ireland – is an incredible sight.

The UNESCO World Heritage Site, which has always baffled admirers, was formed after a volcanic eruption around 60 million years ago, with the cooling lava forming the distinctive hexagonal shape of the columns, but that’s not nearly poetic enough in this Celtic land where stories of giants and ghosts are as commonplace as those regarding real-life kings and queens, and so a legend was born.

The legend of Finn McCool is perhaps the most famous in Irish folklore and concerns a 50ft Irish giant who is said to have fashioned the causeway by tearing strips off the solid rock and driving them into the seabed. McCool used the causeway as a bridge to entice Scottish giant Benandonner across the Irish Sea for a fight, but upon seeing McCool, who was disguised as a baby, and imagining the size his father must be, Benandonner ran back to Scotland, tearing the causeway up in his wake. www.nationaltrust.org.uk/giants-causeway

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12 wonders of britain

Covering the northern two-thirds of Scotland, this wild land of remarkable contrasts, from the mountain peaks of Glen Coe and Ben Nevis to the necklace of lochs that form the Great Glen, has to be seen to be believed. Home to some of the most unspoilt wilderness in Europe – in places it looks as though the ancient land has remained unchanged for millennia – the sense of space is sublime.

Ruined castles such as Eilean Donan (above) dot the landscape, reminders of the bitter rivalries that once tore through the landscape, when clan culture determined control. It was in the Scottish Highlands that Shakespeare decided to set his most brutal and arguably his most famous tragedy, Macbeth, whose title character was based on an 11th-century Scottish king of the same name – a fearless warrior whose life was also marred by murder and betrayal.

In the 400 years since Shakespeare penned his play the place has lost none of its mysterious atmosphere.

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PHOTOS: © VISITBRITAIN/BRITAIN ON VIEW/SHUTTERSTOCK

THE HIGHLANDS, SCOTLAND

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Regalia ROYAL

Our fourth wonder is the Royal Family's most valuable cache, the Crown Jewels. Chris Fautley explores their history and the story of the man who tried to steal them

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hat are they worth? It must be the question asked more than any other about the Crown Jewels. The best guess is probably ‘priceless’, a description that might also be applied to their history. It’s a history, however, that does not reach quite as far back as you might think.

Apart from a few exceptions, none of the Crown Jewels predate 1660. For that we can thank Oliver Cromwell who, having abolished the monarchy, had the Crown Jewels destroyed: only three steel coronation swords and a 12th-century gold anointing spoon (used to anoint the monarch with holy oil) escaped destruction. It therefore fell to King Charles II, upon the restoration of the monarchy, to commission new Regalia – the term for those Crown Jewels used at coronations.

Charles spent £13,000 – a staggering £1.75 billion in today’s money. For good measure, he then invested £18,000 on gold altar and banqueting ware. Consider that many more pieces have been added to the Regalia since, and little wonder that it is almost impossible to value the jewels.

Principal pieces include the Imperial State Crown, used at the conclusion of coronations and for the State Opening of Parliament. It was reworked for the coronation of King George VI: the old Imperial Crown provided its 3,000 gemstones (including 2,868 diamonds).

Among the gemstones are some of the most famous in the world, including the Black Prince’s Ruby (not a ruby at all, but a spinel). Gifted by Pedro, King of Castile, to Edward, the Black Prince, the eldest son of King Edward III, it is believed to have been worn by King Henry V in his helmet at Agincourt.

St Edward’s Sapphire, meanwhile, which is also set in the crown, is reputedly from a ring owned by Edward the Confessor and removed from his tomb.

On the front of the crown, the Cullinan II, or Second Star of Africa, is the second largest gem cut from the famous Cullinan diamond. Discovered in 1905, the Cullinan weighed, uncut, 621.2 grams and was gifted to King Edward VII by the Transvaal government. The 530-carat (106 grams), pear-shaped First Star of Africa, from the same stone, appears in the Sovereign’s Sceptre. It is the world’s largest, flawless, cut diamond. Other spectacular gems include the Koh-i-Noor diamond, which is set in Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother’s Crown. Only the Queen or Queen Consort may

wear it as it is said to bring bad luck to any male who does so.

In terms of gemstone quantity, the Imperial Crown of India is among the frontrunners. Set with some 6,100 diamonds, rubies and emeralds, it was commissioned for King George V at the Imperial Durbar in Delhi (a ceremony marking the succession of an Emperor of India). It is the only occasion on which it has been worn. In terms of weight, St Edward’s Crown is among the heavier crowns, and is used for the actual action of coronation. Set with a glittering carpet of precious and semi-precious stones, it weighs 2.23kg.

The Regalia, along with other crowns, altar and banqueting ware, may usually be seen in the Jewel House at the Tower of London. If that seems as secure a place as any, those with dishonest intentions have thought differently. In 1815, for example, one woman snatched the State Crown and damaged it (back then, visitors were allowed to touch the Crown Jewels).

Colonel Thomas Blood, variously described as a spy and adventurer, however, executed the most audacious attempt at theft in 1671. Under the pseudonym of Dr Ayliffe, a parson, Blood gained the trust of Talbot Edwards, the Assistant Keeper of the Jewels. He regularly visited his Tower apartment, forging so great a bond that he even arranged for his ‘nephew’ (really his son), to marry Edwards’ daughter.

On the agreed date of 9 May Blood arrived at the Tower with four secretly armed accomplices and convinced Edwards to show them the jewels. Blood and his men overpowered Edwards, stealing Regalia, including a crown and an orb; the latter reputedly stuffed down the breeches of one of the accomplices. But, as they tried to escape, Edwards’ son and his men apprehended them.

Accordingly, it seemed likely that Blood would make one final visit to the Tower – which he did, for the purpose of interrogation.

However, he asked to see the king and, surprisingly, his wish was granted on 12 May. Perhaps Blood, rogue that he was, imparted valuable information but, whatever happened, a full pardon was his on 26 August. Even more, he was awarded lands in Ireland worth £500 a year. For Thomas Blood, crime certainly did pay.

 For more beautiful photos of each of our 12 Wonders of Britain go to www.britain-magazine.com/12Wonders

Front page: Queen Elizabeth II returning to Buckingham Palace after her coronation at Westminster Abbey on 2 June 1953 .

Above: Thomas Blood attempting to steal the Crown Jewels. Right: The Imperial State Crown, which is used at the conclusion of coronations

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PHOTOS: © THE PRINT COLLECTOR/HERITAGE IMAGES/GETTY IMAGES/MARY EVANS PICTURE LIBRARY 2015/ ROYAL COLLECTION TRUST/© HER MAJESTY QUEEN ELIZABETH II 2015

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Marvels A MANMADE

Far from being natural phenomena, some of our most precious treasures are actually the handiwork of man through the ages and each of these wonderful examples has been awarded World Heritage Site status

STONEHENGE, WILTSHIRE This prehistoric monument, which was declared a World Heritage Site in 1986, is as close to a national icon as we have. Each year over a million people visit the sacred standing stones, which date back some 4,500 years, trying to work out how and why this stone circle was built with such precision with only the basic tools available to the Neolithic people.

Perhaps the most impressive thing about Stonehenge is how well preserved the site is and to ensure the conservation continues for generations to come, you can no longer walk among the stones, though you can walk round them. Standing in their shadows, wondering about the lives of the people who walked the same earth millennia ago, is nothing short of sublime.

A shuttle bus will take you to the stone circle from the visitor and exhibition centre, where you can learn more about the ancient landscape, even coming face-to-face with a reconstruction of a 5,500-year-old man, whose remains were found nearby, or get a taste of how people lived by wandering into the recreated Neolithic houses.

In September 2015 archaeologists discovered a ‘superhenge’ of at least 100 stone monoliths buried a couple of miles away, just a metre below the ground, at Durrington Walls, adding weight to the long-held theory that Stonehenge, along with nearby Avebury, was part of a huge ritual landscape. www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/stonehenge

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12 wonders of britain THE IRON RING OF CASTLES, NORTH WALES Wales may be known as the castle capital of the world but nowhere is its majestic architecture more pronounced than in the four castles of Beaumaris, Harlech, Caernarfon (below) and Conwy and the walled towns of the latter two, which all stand proud in north Wales.

Built or improved upon by medieval military architect James of St George on the instruction of King Edward I in the late 13th and early 14th centuries, these fortresses, beautiful though they are, formed the basis of the king’s Iron Ring of Castles, designed to keep control of the dissident Welsh.

The castles are remarkably well preserved, having undergone only minimal restoration over the centuries, and provide striking examples of medieval architectural details, including drawbridges, dungeons, towers, curtain walls, and barbicans.

PHOTOS: Š VISITBRITAIN/STEPHEN SPRAGGON/CROWN COPYRIGHT VISIT WALES/VISITENGLAND/BLENHEIM PALACE

www.visitwales.com/things-to-do/attractions/castles-heritage/castles

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BLENHEIM PALACE, OXFORDSHIRE PHOTOS: © FUNKYFOOD/PAUL WILLIAMS/ALAMY/VISITBRITAIN/BRITAIN ON VIEW/IAN DAGNALL

The only stately home in Britain to be designated a World Heritage Site, Blenheim is a masterpiece in Baroque architecture; so remarkable is it that, along with its Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown landscaped park, it has been called a ‘naturalistic Versailles’ and it is typical of an 18th-century princely residence.

Designed by renowned British architect John Vanbrugh and completed by Nicholas Hawksmoor (with later additions by Brown), it was built for John Churchill, first Duke of Marlborough, on land gifted to him by Queen Anne in recognition of his victory in 1704 over French and Bavarian troops, in the Battle of Blenheim.

The palace and its gardens exerted great influence on the English Romantic movement and in later years it became known for its association with Britain’s wartime leader, Sir Winston Churchill, who was born here. www.blenheimpalace.com www.britain-magazine.com

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HADRIAN’S WALL, NORTH ENGLAND

PHOTO: © VISITBRITAIN/JOE CORNISH

The stones of Hadrian’s Wall march for 73 miles across some of our most dramatic terrain, from Bowness-on-Solway in Cumbria to Wallsend on the east coast of England.

The wall was planned before Roman Emperor Hadrian’s visit to Britain in AD 122 when he gave the order to start building; it was an expression of Roman dominance and a means of defence against the ‘barbarians’ to the north.

Walking the remains of the wall today, looking across the barren landscape, you can almost see the terrifying blue-painted Pictish or Caledonian warriors the Roman soldiers so feared screaming out of the trees towards this last line of protection. www.visithadrianswall.co.uk

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Bush Nook is set on the slopes of North Pennines, a half mile off the A69 at Gilsland, within the rolling and Large accom group open countryside of North East Cumbria. The Guest House has been restored to retain and enhance many for up modation features of the original property. There are a mix of single, double and twin bed and breakfast guest rooms, to 2 on B+B 3 people each with individual design and character. basis.

Groups can servic be on a All bedrooms are ensuite and comfortably furnished, complete with crisp white cotton bedding, Freeview self-ca ed or teri basis. ng digital television, hair dryer and hot drink making facilities, as well as a supply of toiletries and fluffy towels for your personal use.

If you wish to treat yourself to something a little special, our ground floor B&B holiday cottage offers more space and comfort, with your own private lounge, charming double bedroom, oak panelled floors, separate full bathroom with bath and overhead shower and kitchen facilities.

There is a dedicated guest area to relax in with a lounge and a delightful conservatory, where in an evening you can rest, watch the birds, take in the stunning views, maybe have a drink in the Nook Bar or on a morning watch the sun rise as you breakfast.

Visitors can also have complimentary use of the garden hot tub with stunning views across Northumberland and Hadrian’s Wall Country.

For further information visit our website: www.bushnook.co.uk Tel: +44 (0)1697747194 • Mob: +44 (0)7920842253 • Email: info@bushnook.co.uk

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Cities

HERITAGE

If you want to get a real sense of what life was like in Norman, medieval or Georgian Britain, then visit one of these three cities, where history surrounds you

BATH, SOMERSET Aside from its 18th-century Royal Crescent – perhaps the finest example of Georgian architecture in Britain – it is for its Roman spas that Bath, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is celebrated.

According to legend, a prince by the name of Bladud was cured of leprosy after bathing in the local hot muddy waters. In gratitude, he founded the city of Bath around the springs in 863 BC but it wasn’t until AD 43 that the Romans developed the settlement, which they called Aquae Sulis in honour of the Celtic goddess Sul, into a haven of relaxation.

The city has three natural springs: the King’s Bath, supplying the Roman Baths, and the Hetling and Cross Springs, which today form part of the renowned Thermae Bath Spa.

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Because of its rejuvenating mineral-rich qualities, Bath’s water was favoured by Queen Anne before she was crowned and in the early part of her reign when Bath was the ‘premier resort of frivolity and fashion’.

During the 18th century Bath’s population multiplied by as much as 10 times and its place in fashionable society resulted in a building boom, examples of which can still be seen in the Pulteney Bridge and the Assembly Rooms, where Jane Austen once danced. Austen lived in Bath from 1801 to 1806 and she set two of her novels here, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion. www.visitbath.co.uk

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PHOTOS: © VISITENGLAND/VISIT COUNTY DURHAM/BATH TOURIS PLUS/COLIN HAWKINS

12 wonders of britain DURHAM, COUNTY DURHAM One of the world’s most exquisite cathedrals, a William the Conqueror motte and bailey castle, and one of the oldest universities in England are all part of the Durham World Heritage Site. In 2016, the next stage of the Open Treasure project at Durham Cathedral (right and far right) will see the opening up of previously hidden claustral spaces, which will be revealed on a new exhibition route starting in the Monks’ Dormitory and ending in the Great Kitchen – one of only two intact surviving monastic kitchens in England.

The old part of the city, with its winding cobbled streets, reveals a treasure trove of quaint shops and traditional pubs. When travel writer Bill Bryson first visited the city, he was so impressed that he wrote in his book Notes from a Small Island, “I couldn’t believe that not once in 20 years had anyone said to me, ‘You’ve never been to Durham? Good God man, you must go at once! Please – take my car.’” www.thisisdurham.com

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12 wonders of britain

For a taste of the English idyll, there are few pastimes as joyous as punting along the Backs on the River Cam – the picturesque area that runs behind the city’s most famous building King’s College Chapel (far left), as well as King’s, Queen’s, Clare, Trinity and St John’s colleges.

The University of Cambridge was founded in the early 13th century when a group of scholars left ‘hostile’ Oxford and settled in the city on the River Cam and began to organise themselves into regular courses of study.

Work on King’s College Chapel, a splendid example of Gothic architecture, with the largest fan vault in the world and some of the most beautiful stained glass, began in 1446 under King Henry VI and was completed in 1515 during the reign of King Henry VIII. Over time the pastures behind the chapel and the colleges became more refined, with 18th-century landscape gardener Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown even adding in a ‘wilderness’ garden on the college side of Queen’s Road. Cambridge is also home to some more gruesome relics, including the head of Oliver Cromwell which, having passed through numerous hands, is now buried in a secret location at Sidney Sussex College, where the Lord Protector once studied. www.visitcambridge.org

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PHOTOS: © VISITENGLAND/DIANA JARVIS/VISIT COUNTY DURHAM/ISTOCK/ROB ELLIS

THE BACKS, CAMBRIDGE, CAMBRIDGESHIRE

Museum THE BRITISH

Our 12th wonder is Britain’s most celebrated museum, a true treasure trove of global antiquities WORDS NICOLA RAYNER

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his is the greatest museum in the world,” tour guides tell you proudly in the astonishing light-filled Great Court of the British Museum in London’s Bloomsbury. With its grand Greek revival entrance and the magnificent glass ceiling of the Great Court itself, the scale and beauty of the building are awe-inspiring. Best of all, the museum, packed full of treasures from all over the world, is free to visit, except for special temporary exhibitions, with a number of free tours on offer too.

A long gallery on your right as you enter, while darker and quieter than the Great Court, holds clues to the story behind Britain’s most famous museum. The oldest room in the museum, the King’s Library was built in 1827 to house King George III’s collection of some 60,000 books, which were given to the nation in 1823 by his son King George IV, a monarch more interested in partying than reading.

The gift prompted the construction of the quadrangular building that you see today, designed by Sir Robert Smirke, who was also responsible for the second incarnation of the Royal Opera House.

In a discreet corner of the same room you’ll find the bust of Sir Hans Sloane that has stood somewhere in the British Museum since his death in 1753. The first national public museum in the world owes its existence to the wealthy Irish physician who

bequeathed his collection of 71,000 objects to King George II for the nation in return for a payment of £20,000 to his heirs.

Through his generosity, the British Museum, first housed in a 17th-century mansion, Montagu House, on the site of today’s building, opened on 15 January 1759 to ‘all studious and curious persons’. These Georgian beginnings at the British Museum actually led to not one but three extraordinary institutions: its natural history collections were moved to a new building in South Kensington in the 1880s, which became the Natural History Museum, while George III’s books are kept at the heart of the British Library, which was founded in 1973 and now houses the museum’s books in a new building at St Pancras.

Sloane was a child of the Enlightenment, sometimes referred to as the long 18th century, a time when science came to play a leading role in discourse and thought. This age of reason and learning – and improved ease of travel – was perfect for those of a curious bent, and the objects on display in the Enlightenment gallery say something about how travellers during this great age of discovery perceived, and collected from, the world around them. The Piranesi Vase, for example, the oversized souvenir of a Scottish merchant from his Grand Tour of Italy, is a curious melding of antiquity and

This page, left to right: The Reading Room in the Great Court; visitors in one of the Ancient Egypt galleries. Facing page, clockwise from top left: The Lewis Chessmen; the Head of Augustus; the Rosetta Stone; the Sutton Hoo helmet; a metope sculpture from the Parthenon

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Beaumaris Castle, built in 1284 by King Edward I, is considered one of the finest examples of 13th-century military architecture in the country

18th-century ‘improvements’, while the ‘Merman’ hidden in one dark corner is another slightly terrifying hybrid – of monkey and fish.

A copy of one of the museum’s most famous treasures, the Rosetta Stone, the key that unlocked the mystery of how to decipher hieroglyphs, can also be found in the Enlightenment gallery, so if you’d like to study its famous three scripts (hieroglyphic, demotic and Greek) in peace – as it’s likely you’ll have competition to examine the real one in the Ancient Egypt section – this is the place to go.

Among the museum’s other treasures, the Lewis Chessmen, dating from the late 1100s, present a mystery rather than solving one. Found on the Isle of Lewis in the 1830s, the intricately carved chess pieces baffled historians for years. We don’t know who owned the pieces or why they were hidden: all we can be sure of is that they were discovered some time before 11 April 1831, when they were exhibited in Edinburgh at the Society of Antiquaries for Scotland.

The most popular theory is that the pieces belonged to a merchant who was travelling between Norway and Ireland, who buried the hoard but never returned to retrieve it. Certainly the delicate pieces of walrus ivory and whales’ teeth are in remarkable condition: the weary queen looks as if she has the weight of the world of her shoulders while the warders or rooks, which take the form of Berserkers, fierce mythical warriors biting down on their shields in a (possibly drug-induced) battle fury, support the idea that they came from Norway.

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As one of the most spectacular archaeological discoveries of all time, the treasure of Sutton Hoo should also be on every visitor’s must-see list. The story is almost too good to be true. In 1939, Edith Pretty, a landowner at Sutton Hoo in Suffolk, invited archaeologist Basil Brown to investigate the strange-shaped burial mounds in her garden. Beneath one of them, he found the ghostly imprint of a 27-metre-long ship, which had been dissolved by the acidic soil.

Dating to the 7th century AD, the ship was the burial chamber of an Anglo-Saxon of particularly high status, quite possibly a king.

Although the dead man’s body had also dissolved, Byzantine silverware, exquisite gold jewellery, a lavish feasting set and, most famously, an ornate iron helmet remained, with the latter displayed alongside a spectacular reconstruction.

The British Museum’s acquisitions have, on occasion, courted controversy. Putting aside the question of to whom they belong, the Parthenon sculptures (known more widely as the Elgin Marbles), which were taken from the Acropolis of Athens by Lord Elgin in the early 1800s, are extraordinary. Look closely and you might still glimpse traces of what once would have been a vivid display of colour on the white ribbon of marble that encircles the room and you can’t beat seeing the flare of a horse’s nostril or a battling centaur close up.

 For more incredible photos and information on each of our 12 Wonders of Britain go to www.britain-magazine.com/12Wonders www.britain-magazine.com

PHOTOS: © THE TRUSTEES OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM/VISITBRITAIN/BRITAIN ON VIEW

Left to right: This statue of Ramesses II, which dates from 1250 BC, is one of the Ancient Egypt exhibits; the Oxus Chariot Model (500-300 BC) is one of the finest pieces of decorative metal work to come from the Persian Empire

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Be one of the first to explore Open Treasure, Durham Cathedral’s world-class exhibition spaces opening during 2016.

Journey through some of the most intact surviving medieval monastic buildings in the UK and discover two thousand years of history as the remarkable story of Durham Cathedral and its incredible collections is revealed.

Follow Durham Cathedral on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for regular up-dates. www.durhamcathedral.co.uk/open-treasure

BY DAY OR BY NIGHT BY DAY OR BY NIGHT COME RAIN OR SHINE COME RAIN OR SHINE COME RAIN OR SHINE

Relax Relax in in the the warm, warm, mineral-rich mineral-rich waters waters of of Bath’s Bath’s natural natural thermal thermal Spa. Spa. Bathe the open-air rooftop and Minerva Bath, your Relax in in the mineral-rich of Bath’s natural thermal Spa. Bathe in thewarm, open-air rooftop pool poolwaters and indoor indoor Minerva Bath, refresh refresh your senses in the aroma rooms and choose from over spa treatments. senses in the the open-air aroma steam steam rooms and choose over 40 40 sparefresh treatments.

Bathe in rooftop pool and indoorfrom Minerva Bath, your senses in the aroma steam rooms and choose from over 40 spa treatments.

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Open – 21.30 Open daily daily from from 09.00 09.00 – 21.30 (pools & rooms close (pools & steam steam close at at– 21.00) 21.00) Open daily rooms from 09.00 21.30 (pools & steam rooms close at 21.00)

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