24 Jun 2014

Five sites you would give world heritage status to

This year’s addition to Unesco’s world heritage List includes a 30,000 year old French cave and a 600-year-old Inca road system – but there were many UK sites left out. Here are five chosen by you.

Glastonbury

Glastonbury Festival is a five-day music festival that takes place in Somerset. The festival takes place in south west England at Worthy Farm between the small villages of Pilton and Pylle, six miles east of Glastonbury, overlooked by the Glastonbury Tor in the “Vale of Avalon”.

The area has a number of legends and spiritual traditions, and is a new-age site of interest.

Delabole quarry

Delabole slate quarry has been in operation for around 1,000 years and over 10 million tonnes of slate has been quarried since it was first recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086.

The Normans would have required the slate for their castle and estate building program across the south of England. For centuries, ownership of the great quarry was split between several families and estates that worked their own section or leased parts to small groups of quarrymen.

This method of working inevitably resulted in many disputes and court battles until 1842 when the Old Delabole Slate Company was formed and successfully secured all the freehold rights to the quarry.

Port Sunlight Village

Port Sunlight is a model village, suburb and electoral ward in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. Port Sunlight contains 900 Grade II listed buildings, and was declared a conservation area in 1978.

It was informally suggested for world heritage site (WHS) status to protect it from development and to preserve the unique character for future generations.

Laxey Wheel

Designed by the Victorian engineer Robert Casement, the Laxey Wheel was built in 1854 to pump water from Glen Mooar which was part of the Great Laxey Mines industrial complex.

Standing at over 72 feet high the wheel, which is also known as Lady Isabella, has been one of the Isle of Man’s most popular tourist attractions for well over 150 years.

Rik Mayall’s bench

When Rik Mayall passed away in June, fans launched a petition for a memorial bench to be placed as near as possible to the bench on Hammersmith Broadway where the opening credits of Bottom were filmed, and gained 1,350 signatures in three days.