By
Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 11:42 AM on 22nd March 2011
They may not be the most obvious landmarks to rank alongside the Great Pyramids and the Lost City of Machu Picchu, but the Forth Bridge and Jodrell Bank observatory are among 11 British sites to make the list of potential candidates for world heritage status.
They join the slate industry of North Wales, as well as the Lake District in Cumbria, on the ‘tentative list’ nominated by the government.
The list for potential nomination for world heritage status also includes the UK Overseas Territories of St Helena in the South Atlantic and the Turks and Caicos Islands in the West Indies.
A wonder?: The Lovell Radio Telescope at the Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire
On the list: The Forth Bridge near Edinburgh, nominated for World Heritage status
Creswell Crags: The limestone gorge on the border between Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire were seasonally occupied by nomadic groups of people during the Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic periods
Derwentwater and Catbells in the Northern Lake District, Cumbria: Thirty-four miles of lakes and mountains that brought inspiration to William Wordsworth
If any of the sites make it onto the 2012 list, they’ll sit alongside the likes of the Pyramids, Machu Picchu and the Great Barrier Reef.
World Heritage Sites are chosen for outstanding universal value to culture, history or science. Sites that gain the coveted status can enjoy preservation.
Two sites that have in the past already been considered by UNESCO for world heritage status – the Twin Monastery of Wearmouth-Jarrow, in Sunderland and South Tyneside, and Darwin’s landscape laboratory in Kent – are also on the list.
Announcing the list, Tourism and Heritage Minister John Penrose said: ‘Few places in the world can match the wealth of wonderful heritage we have available in the UK.
Dinorwig Dinorwic Slate Quarry, Snowdonia, North West Wales: The slate producing industry still employs over 1,000 people in the region
Jarlshof in the Shetland Islands: The best known prehistoric archaeological site in Shetland, Scotland, containing remains dating from 2500 BC up to the 17th century AD
The Flow country, Scotland: The largest expanse of blanket bog in Europe, and covering around 4,000 square kilometres
Darwin’s Landscape Laboratory, Kent: The home where he famously developed his theories on evolution therefore changing the history of science
‘The 11 places that make up the new UK tentative list are fantastic examples of both our cultural and natural heritage and I believe they have every chance of joining famous names like the Sydney Opera House and the Canadian Rockies to become world heritage sites.’
This year has seen a push for more UK landmarks to make the list after UNESCO, which maintains it, expressed concern that it was dominated by sites from western Europe.
The World Heritage list was established in 1972 with the aim of preserving sites of cultural and historical importance. In some cases, listed sites are awarded funds by the World Heritage Fund.
St Helena Island, South Atlantic Ocean: Historic sites of early European colonisation of North America and some claim it is the oldest settlement in the United States
Turks Caicos Islands, West Indies: A British Overseas Territory south east of Mayaguana in the Bahamas
Although not as obviously breathtaking as some of the list’s more famous entries – Greece’s Acropolis and India’s Taj Mahal, for example – Britain’s contenders are not to be sniffed at.
The Forth Bridge over the Firth of Forth in the east of Scotland is one of several industrial sites put forward this year by the government. Opened in 1890 and standing at 1.6 miles long, it connects Edinburgh with Fife, and until 1917 it had the longest single cantilever bridge span in the world. The bridge took seven years to build and is made of steel alone, the first bridge in Britain to use that material.
The Jodrell Bank Observatory is home to several radio telescopes which play an important part in the research of meteors, quasars, pulsars, masers and gravitational lenses. It was established by Sir Bernard Lovell in 1945, who wanted to investigate cosmic rays after his work on radar during the Second World War. Its main telescope is the Lovell telescope, the third largest steerable radio telescope in the world.
THE CONTENDERS
The Forth Bridge (Rail), Scotland
Chatham Dockyard and its Defences, Kent, England
Creswell Crags, Derbyshire/Nottinghamshire, England
England’s Lake District, Cumbria
Gorham’s Cave Complex, Gibraltar
The Island of St Helena, South Atlantic Ocean
Jodrell Bank Observatory, Cheshire, England
Mousa, Old Scatness Jarlshof, Shetland, Scotland
Slate Industry of North Wales
The Flow Country, Scotland
Turks Caicos Islands, West Indies
Twin Monastery of Wearmouth-Jarrow, Sunderland and South Tyneside, England
Darwin’s Landscape Laboratory, Kent, England
John Darwin’s Landscape Laboratory in Kent makes it onto the tentative list for the third time. It is the place where Darwin famously developed his theories on evolution therefore changing the history of science.
The list currently earmarks 911 sites for preservation.
The Great Pyramids at Giza in Egypt are considered one of the ancient wonders of the world and several are counted among thA bue largest structures ever built. They consist of the Great Pyramid of Giza, the smaller Pyramid of Khafre and the Pyramid of Menkaure. How and when they were built is unknown but they were constructed to house the remains of the dead Pharaohs who ruled over Ancient Egypt.
The Great Barrier Reef made the World Heritage Site list in 1981. It’s the world’s largest reef system comprising over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over 2,600 kilometres all located off the coast of Queensland in north-east Australia. It is so big it can be seen from outer space.
Machu Picchu in Peru was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983. Built in the classical Inca style, with polished dry-stone walls, it is a 15th century Inca site standing at 2,430 metres above sea level above the Urubamba Valley. The Incas started building it for the emperor Pachacuti in around AD 1400 but later abandoned it. Thousands of tourists flock there every year to visit what is termed as ‘the Lost City of the Incas’.
The 11 sites on the ‘tentative list’ have been whittled down from 38.
The Great Pyramids: One of the great wonders of the ancient world
The Lost City of Machu Picchu: Declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983
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Get those modern buildings and facilities off this list!
Jodrell bank may be an impressive technical achievement but it has nothing on the beauty of the lake district. It’s a metal monstrosity that were it to have no practical use, nobody would ever want to see. In other words, it’s just a soulless hunk of metal that one day will rust away and no one will care.
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To me, Once I have visisted Machu Picchu need I really visit anywhere else, my number 1 destination I want to visit!
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I’m pretty sure St Helena Island, South Atlantic Ocean is NOT “the oldest settlement in the United States”!
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if Sydney Opera House can be nominted, then why on earth not the Royal Albert Hall? _ fantastic building!
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