The Eden Project
British Airways’ High Life magazine has collaborated with British national newspaper The Independent to identify top landmarks in the United Kingdom.
Readers were first invited to nominate their favourite buildings – both historic and new – over a three-month period. The list was then whittled down by a panel of British experts, including the president of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Stephen Hodder, and BBC and ITV broadcaster Julia Bradbury.
Don’t forget to add these 21 landmarks to your itinerary the next time you visit the UK!
1. Eden Project
The Eden Project is a visitor attraction in Cornwall, which is home to a series of artificial biodomes that are home to plants collected from all around the world.
2. Angel of the North
The Angel of the North is a modern sculpture (completed in 1998) designed by Sir Antony Gormley, located near Gateshead in County Durham, England. It is a steel sculpture of an angel, 20 metres tall, with wings measuring 54 metres across.
3. Coventry Cathedral
Also known as St Michael’s, this cathedral is the seat of the Bishop of Coventry in the West Midlands, England.
4. Millennium Bridge
The Millennium Bridge, is a 325m steel suspension bridge for pedestrians, linking Bankside with the City of London. It is the first pedestrian footbridge crossing over the River Thames for more than a century.
5. London Eye
The London Eye is a giant Ferris wheel on the South Bank of the River Thames. At 135m tall and 120m in diameter, it is Europe’s tallest Ferris wheel (it was the world’s tallest when it was first erected in 1999). It is also the most popular paid tourist attraction in the United Kingdom, with over 3.75 million visitors annually.
6. St Paul’s Cathedral
London’s St Paul’s Cathedral sits at the top of Ludgate Hill – the highest point in the City of London. Designed by Sir Christopher Wren, the Anglican cathedral is the seat of the Bishop of London and was notably the location of the wedding of Prince Wales and Diana Spencer.
7. Tate Modern
The Tate Modern is a modern art gallery located in the former Bankside Power Station. It is Britain’s national gallery of international modern art, housing art from 1900 to the present day.
8. Whitechapel Gallery
The Whitechapel Gallery is one of the first publicly funded galleries for temporary exhibitions in London, founded in 1901. This internationally renowned art gallery has premiered world-class artists including Pablo Picasso.
9. De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill
An iconic, Grade I listed building from 1935, which houses contemporary art exhibitions, on the south coast of England. It is named after Herbrand Sackville, the 9th Earl De La Warr, who initiated an architectural competition that resulted in its construction.
10. Turner Contemporary, Margate
The Turner Contemporary is an art gallery in Margate, Kent, on the site of a boarding house where noted landscape painter J. M. W. Turner once stayed. The gallery has been supported by artist Tracey Emin and various other bodies, including Arts Council England.
11. Lincoln Cathedral
Lincoln Cathedral is Britain’s third largest cathedral, located in northern England. It was once reputed to be the tallest building in the world (1311-1549).
12. Selfridges, Birmingham
The Selfridges Building is part of Birmingham’s Bullring Shopping centre and houses the Selfridges department store. The £60 million steel and concrete building was completed in 2003 and has won numerous architecture awards.
13. Chatsworth, Derbyshire
Chatsworth House is a stately home in England’s Peak District, which is the seat of the Duke of Devonshire. It has been selected as the UK’s favourite country house several times.
14. Lovell Telescope, Jodrell Bank, Cheshire
The Lovell Telescope is a radio telescope at Jodrell Bank Observatory, near Goostrey, Cheshire in the North West of England.
15. Grizedale Forest Sculpture Park, Cumbria
Grizedale Forest is a 24.47 km² area of woodland in North West England, home to approximately 90 sculptures made from naturally occurring materials such as stone and wood. Sculptors have included David Nash, Sally Matthews and Andy Goldsworthy.
16. Singing Ringing Tree, Burnley
This wind powered sound sculpture is set in the landscape of the Pennine hill range overlooking Burnley in Lancashire, England. It is a part of the series of sculptures within the Panopticons art and regeneration project to erect a series of 21st-century landmarks. It is three metres tall and constructed of galvanized steel pipes, which harness the energy of the wind to produce a choral sound with a range of seven octaves.
17. Albert Dock, Liverpool
The Albert Dock is a complex of dock buildings and warehouses in Liverpool, England, designed by Jesse Hartley and Philip Hardwick. Opened in 1846, and was the first structure in Britain built from cast iron, brick and stone, with no structural wood.
18. Blackpool Tower
The Blackpool Tower is a tourist attraction in Blackpool, England, which was inspired by the Eiffel Tower in Paris. It opened to the public on 14 May 1894 and is a Grade I listed building.
19. Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff
This arts centre in the Cardiff Bay area of Cardiff, Wales, hosts performances of opera, ballet, dance, comedy and musicals. The site covers a total area of 4.7 acres.
20. Edinburgh Castle
Edinburgh Castle is a historic fortress that sits on the city’s Castle Rock. It is a World Heritage Site and Scotland’s most-visited paid attraction, with over 1.4 million visitors in 2013.
21. Visitor Centre, Giant’s Causeway
The Giant’s Causeway is an area of about 40,000 interlocking, mostly hexagonal basalt columns, which were the result of an ancient eruption, on the northeast coast of Northern Ireland. It is a World Heritage Site and nature reserve, home to a modern visitor’s centre, which was built to fit in with its surrounding scenery.
