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Quiz Monkey |
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This page is about places in the United Kingdom, that aren't covered anywhere else (e.g. in Counties or Towns and Cities). It includes such diverse entities as National Parks, beauty spots, tourist attractions, suburbs and streets.
See also Places: Rest of the World.
Britain's first ten national parks were created in the 1950s:
Later creations:
11 |
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The Broads | 1 April 1989 | 303 | 117 |
12 |
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Loch Lomond and the Trossachs | 19 July 2002 | 1,865 | 720 |
13 |
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Cairngorms | 25 March 2003 | 4,528 | 1,748 |
14 |
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New Forest | 1 March 2005 | 580 | 220 |
15 |
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South Downs | 12 November 2009 | 1,641 | 634 |
As the above table shows, the Cairngorms is by far Britain's largest national park – just slightly less than twice the size of the previous largest, which was the Lake District. The smallest is the Broads, which was the first of the later creations – less than half the size of the Pembrokeshire Coast, which was the previous smallest.
Lagoon behind Chesil Beach, Dorset, where mute swans have bred for at least 600 years |
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Abbotsbury | |
Garden and watermill at Temple Sowerby, near Penrith, Cumbria: noted for its herb garden and orchard |
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Acorn Bank | |
Berkshire village that gave its name to the UK's Atomic Weapons Research Establishment (established in 1950); CND organised a series of marches from Trafalgar Square, London, to it (sometimes vice versa), from 1958 |
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Aldermaston | |
Low–lying part of North Lincolnshire to the west of the River Trent, south west of Scunthorpe |
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Axholme (Isle of) | |
Name given to the canals of Cambridge |
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The Backs | |
Dinas Oleu – the first land to be owned by the National Trust – is near (Welsh coastal town) |
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Barmouth | |
North of England Open Air Museum – near Stanley, Co. Durham – featuring detailed reproductions of a town, farm and colliery village of 1913; other exhibits include a working replica of Stephenson's Locomotion No. 1 (the original of which is in Darlington Railway Centre and Museum); established in 1970, opened in 1972 on the present site (named after the nearby village) |
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Beamish | |
Amusement complex in Manchester, opened in 1836: included a zoo, exhibition hall, greyhound stadium (from 1926) and speedway stadium (from 1928); all closed between 1977 and 1987 – the greyhound and speedway stadium were replaced, the latter being the UK's National Speedway Stadium and still home to the Aces; name shared with (among others) areas of Doncaster and Wakefield, which give their names to the stadia used by the respective football and rugby league clubs (Doncaster Rovers moved to a new stadium in 2006) |
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Belle Vue | |
English municipal park on which New York's Central Park was based |
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Birkenhead Park | |
Heavily industrialised area, bordering Birmingham to the west |
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Black Country | |
Britain's most–visited theme park, and Europe's second – over twice as many visitors as Alton Towers (2007) |
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Blackpool Pleasure Beach | |
The two Greater Manchester boroughs that don't border the City of Manchester |
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Bolton | |
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Wigan | ||
Birmingham's 'factory in a garden village', founded 1879 by George and Richard Cadbury |
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Bourneville | |
Popular beauty spot in the North Downs of Surrey: featured in the 2012 Olympic road cycling race |
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Box Hill | |
England and Wales's first new National Park since the 1950s – established 1989 |
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The Broads | |
Scotland's second national park; Britain's largest and most northerly (established 2003) |
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Cairngorms | |
"Resort" in Newport, Monmouthshire: has hosted the Ryder Cup (2010) and a NATO summit meeting (2014) |
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Celtic Manor | |
Lancashire town: gave its name to a currant–filled pastry cake (said to be less sweet than the better–known Eccles cake, and made with shortcrust pastry as opposed to flaky) |
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Chorley | |
Manchester suburb (since 1974 part of Trafford Metropolitan Borough): gave its name to one of Europe's largest sewage works, where the global standard Activated Sludge Process was invented in 1914 |
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Davyhulme | |
Town in north–east Scotland: Rocco, son of Madonna and Guy Ritchie, was christened in its cathedral in 2000 on the day before their wedding in nearby Skibo Castle |
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Dornoch | |
Area of Nottinghamshire, near Worksop, named for the four or five ducal seats that it contained, in close proximity to each other |
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The Dukeries | |
Town formerly in Lancashire, now part of Salford metropolitan borough: gave its name to a currant–filled pastry cake |
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Eccles | |
Visitor attraction near St. Austell, Cornwall, conceived by Tim Smit and opened 2001: several domes, each emulating a different natural environment and housing plants from around the world |
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Eden Project | |
One of Scotland's 32 modern 'council areas' – between the Firths of Tay and Forth: widely held to have been one of the major Pictish kingdoms, and still commonly known in Scotland as the Kingdom of ... |
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Fife | |
Peninsula (and its surrounding area), now part of Cumbria – an exclave of Lancashire, prior to 1974 |
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Furness | |
The only UNESCO world heritage site in Northern Ireland |
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Giant's Causeway | |
Scattered community on the Sound of Sleat, in the Highlands of Scotland; includes the village of Kirkton; best known to outsiders for the world's last hand–operated turntable ferry, serving Kylerhea on the Isle of Skye |
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Glenelg | |
The highest point on England's south coast (191m, 627ft); between Bridport and Charmouth, Dorset – part of the Jurassic Coast |
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Golden Cap | |
Sussex estate of the Dukes of Richmond, where Rolls–Royce cars have been built since 2003 when BMW bought the rights to the Rolls–Royce Cars name |
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Goodwood | |
Greater Manchester's largest park, and the largest municipal park in Western Europe; sold to Manchester City Council in 1902 by the Earl of Wilton; Pope John Paul II held a mass there in 1982 |
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Heaton Park | |
Castle in (East) Sussex near which the Royal Greenwich Observatory was sited from 1948 until 1990 (when it moved to Cambridge; it closed in 1998) |
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Herstmonceux | |
Royal park in the centre of Edinburgh: features include Arthur's Seat, Salisbury Crags, Samson's Ribs (a formation of columnar basalt, reminiscent of the Giant's Causeway) and St. Margaret's Loch (formed artificially in 1856 as part of Prince Albert's plans for improving the area surrounding the royal palace); a.k.a. King's Park or Queen's Park (depending on the gender of the reigning monarch) |
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Holyrood Park | |
Runs between Liverpool's two cathedrals |
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Hope Street | |
Self–governing dependency in the British Isles: not a member of the UK, EU or Commonwealth; divided into six Sheadings |
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Isle of Man | |
Zoo set up by Gerald Durrell to help conserve endangered species |
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Jersey | |
England's only natural UNESCO World Heritage Site: coastline from Orcombe Point (near Exmouth, Devon) to Old Harry Rocks (near Swanage, Dorset) |
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Jurassic Coast | |
Europe's largest man–made woodland (Northumberland) |
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Kielder Forest | |
Area of Liverpool, associated with Ken Dodd |
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Knotty Ash | |
Wiltshire village owned almost entirely by the National Trust; includes an Abbey, founded 1232, home to the photographic pioneer William Fox Talbot (b. 1800) |
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Lacock | |
Britain's largest National Park, until the Cairngorms became one (still the largest in England, and bigger than any in Wales) |
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Lake District | |
Known 'in ancient geography' as Bolerium |
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Land's End | |
Commercially–based theme park near Windsor, Berkshire (also in Denmark, Germany and USA); “Discovery Centre” opened in Manchester 2010 |
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Legoland | |
Island in the Bristol Channel, Britain's first Marine Nature Reserve (1986) |
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Lundy Island | |
Scotland's first national park (established 2002) |
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Loch Lomond and the Trossachs | |
Wetland nature reserve on the Lancashire coastal plain (near Burscough): opened to the public in 1975 by Sir Peter Scott |
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Martin Mere | |
Shopping complex between Sheffield and Rotherham – opened 1990 |
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Meadowhall | |
Mixed–use property development at Salford Quays, Greater Manchester (on the banks of the Manchester Ship Canal) – principal tenant is the BBC, others include Granada TV |
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MediaCityUK | |
Not a national park, but granted equivalent status by act of Parliament in 1988 |
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Norfolk (Suffolk) Broads | |
High security prison on the Isle of Wight |
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Parkhurst | |
Britain's first National Park (1951) |
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Peak District | |
The smallest of Britain's original ten National Parks (those created in the 1950s); the Broads (created in 1988, but not strictly a National Park) and New Forest (2002) are smaller; the only one designated primarily because of its coastline |
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Pembrokeshire Coast | |
Site of the UK's Defence Science & Technology Laboratory (Wiltshire) |
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Porton Down | |
Model town on the Wirral, founded 1888 by Lord Leverhulme |
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Port Sunlight | |
Main street in Edinburgh, overlooked by the Sir Walter Scott memorial |
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Princes Street | |
Name given to the area of West Yorkshire between Leeds, Bradford and Wakefield – after its most famous specialised agricultural product |
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Rhubarb Triangle | |
Name given to a succession of streets forming the main thoroughfare of Edinburgh's Old Town, from the Castle to Holyrood Palace |
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Royal Mile | |
Memorials to John F. Kennedy and the men and women of Commonwealth air forces who died during World War II (as well as Magna Carta) can be found at |
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Runnymede | |
Civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, Greater Manchester – belonged to the West Riding of Yorkshire until local government reorganisation of 1974; includes the villages of Diggle, Delph, Uppermill, Greenfield |
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Saddleworth | |
The only Merseyside borough that doesn't adjoin the City of Liverpool |
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St. Helens |
Junction between the A1 and the A66 (North Yorkshire) |
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Scotch Corner | |
Garden near Tunbridge Wells, in Kent, created by Harold Nicholson and Vita Sackville–West |
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Sissinghurst | |
National Park spanning parts of Hampshire and Sussex – including Beachy Head – established in 2009 |
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South Downs | |
Buckinghamshire village that gave its name to the hospital which includes the National Spinal Injuries Centre; pioneering rehabilitation work carried out there by Sir Ludwig Guttmann led to the development of the Paralympic Games; the National Centre for Disability Sport – an extensive sports complex – is adjacent |
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Stoke Mandeville | |
Popular beauty spot straddling the river Wye, named after a 17th–century sheriff of Herefordshire |
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Symonds Yat | |
Place in the Peak District National Park where Cheshire, Derbyshire and Staffordshire meet |
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Three Shire Heads | |
Scenic area of the Achray Forest, Perthshire, between Lochs Achray and Katrine – now part of a national park, along with Loch Lomond |
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The Trossachs | |
Gravitational centre of the United Kingdom (including offshore islands) – according to the Ordnance Survey (cited by Wikipedia): near Brennand Farm, 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) north of the village of Dunsop Bridge, Lancashire |
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Whitendale Hanging Stones | |
The nuclear processing site at Sellafield, Cumbria, was known from 1947 to 1981 as (Sellafield was the name of the Royal Ordnance Factory that previously occupied the site; the nearest village is Seascale) |
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Windscale | |
Small, scattered settlement at the head of the Longdendale valley in Derbyshire (formerly Cheshire): gives its name to a reservoir, the tunnel that carried the original railway line from Manchester to Sheffield, and the pass by which the A628 road crosses the Pennines |
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Woodhead | |
Michael Eavis's farm, on which Glastonbury Festival is held (between the villages of Pilton and Pylle, six miles east of Glastonbury) |
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Worthy Farm |
© Haydn Thompson 2018