117 Old Ruins to Explore in England

A majestic building which is home to the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire, and has been passed down through 16 generations of the Cavendish family. It has a beautiful garden which is famous for its rich history, historic and modern waterworks and sculptures, and its Victorian rock garden, there is something for everyone in the 105-acre Chatsworth Garden.

Cheddleton Flint Mill is a fine example of a water mill that ground flint for the pottery industry. The site features two water mills, a small museum, a period cottage, the canal and many other exhibits. The site is open to the public. There are actually two mills: one was purpose-built to grind flint for use in the pottery industry, and the other was converted to the same purpose from use as a corn-mill. The mill complex includes a miller's cottage, two flint kilns, a drying kiln and outbuil

The stone villa was first built in the early 2nd century and expanded in the 4th century. The luxurious features and precious marble mosaics lead archaeologists to believe the dwelling belonged to a very wealthy and high-status Romano-Briton family. It is one of the largest and most elaborate Roman villas so far discovered in Britain and one with the latest occupation beyond the Roman period.

The city walls are the oldest, longest, and most complete in Britain, parts of which are almost 2000 years old. They were extended and developed in the Saxon period. During the 12th century, the Normans rebuilt and extended the Walls so for the first time since the Romans, the Walls formed a completed circuit around Chester. Throughout the middle ages, Chester was one of the most protected and strategically important cities in the county.

One of the largest amphitheatre in Britain which was used for entertainment and military training. It lay just outside the south-east corner of the Roman legionary fortress and was probably used both for entertainments and for practising troop manoeuvres and weapon training. The two buildings differed from each other and from all other British amphitheatres, underlining the importance of Roman Chester. This site is now in the care of English Heritage.

The Roman Gardens at Chester stand to the south east of the city, just outside the city walls near the Newgate and Chester Roman Amphitheatre. Named after a collection of finely carved building fragments from the Roman legionary fortress of Deva. They include pieces from some of the most important military buildings, including the main baths and the legionary headquarters. None of the building fragments originally came from the site, since the Gardens lie just outside the Roman fortress.

Claythorpe Watermill is a small, family-run visitor attraction. One of the loveliest things to do in Lincolnshire. The mill last ran in the late 1970s but you can still see the remaining millworks and learn more about its varied industrial history. Built around 1720, This Grade II listed former mill ran until the late 1970s, powered by a rare turbine. You can see some of the old mill works in what’s now the café.

Cressing Temple Barns is a site rich in ancient history. Built in the 13th century, the magnificent Grade I listed Barley and Wheat Barns were part of large farmstead built by the Knights Templar. It was amongst the very earliest and largest of the possessions of the Knights Templar in England,[2][3] and is currently open to the public as a visitor site.

Crowland Abbey, is a place of prayer and worship in the town of Crowland, Lincolnshire. It was founded in memory of St. Guthlac early in the eighth century by Ethelbald, King of Mercia, but was entirely destroyed and the community slaughtered by the Danes in 866. Crowland is well known to historians as the probable home of the Croyland Chronicle of Pseudo-Ingulf, begun by one of its monks and continued by several other hands.

The Donnington Castle is a ruined medieval castle that was held by the Abberbury family from 1287. It consists originally of a curtain wall with four round corner towers, two square wall towers, and a substantial gatehouse, constructed around a courtyard in the style typical of the fortified residences of the period. The site is under the care of English Heritage and is protected from unauthorised change as a scheduled ancient monument.

Durlston Castle and Country Park, situated 1 mile from Swanage in Dorset, is a fabulous 320-acre countryside paradise. At this National Nature Reserve, you'll find dramatic sea-cliffs, coastal limestone downland, hay meadows, hedgerows, and woodland. The Castle itself has unparalleled views from the clifftops over Durlston Bay and across to the Isle of Wight, with many couples choosing to have their ceremony in the glass-sided Belvedere room on top of the Castle, followed by their reception in

The Eastgate Clock is a turret clock built above the Eastgate of the ancient walls of Chester. It is the most iconic landmark and the second most photographed clock in the world after Big Ben. The clock was built in 1899 to celebrate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee of 1897. The whole structure, gateway, and clock, was designated as a Grade I listed building on 28 July 1955.

The Grade II* listed Eling Tide Mill, which has stood at the center of life in Eling for centuries, is one of only a handful of working tide mills left in the UK. The mill's fascinating story and history continue in the Discovery Room where interactive displays include opportunities for visitors of all ages to get hands-on with quern stones and a working model of a tide mill.You can learn about the workings of the newly restored mill and discover how the tide is harnessed to power the centuries-

Featherstone Castle, a Grade I listed building, is a large Gothic style country mansion situated on the bank of the River South Tyne about 3 miles southwest of the town of Haltwhistle in Northumberland, England. It has played an important role in the battles between the English and the Scots. Originally a 13th-century hall house, a square three-storey pele tower was added in 1330 by Thomas de Featherstonehaugh.

The very extensive remains of a 13thC priory, founded on the site of a retired pirate's hermitage. Part of it later served as a holiday retreat for the monks of Durham Cathedral. Beautifully sited by the River Wear, it can be reached from Durham via a delightful riverside and woodland walk.

Flounders’ Folly is the landmark stone tower standing 80 feet above Callow Hill, near Craven Arms, South Shropshire. The Folly is visible for miles around and provides visitors with spectacular views. Constructed in 1838 by Benjamin Flounders , was restored in 2004-2005 by the Flounders’ Folly Trust and is now open to the public one day each month. enabling visitors to scale the 78 steps to the viewing platform and enjoy the wonderful views of the South Shropshire landscape.

Frogmore House, Standing about half a mile south of Windsor Castle in Windsor Home Park. gardens at Frogmore House have been an enduring attraction for monarchs and their families since the house was purchased by Queen Charlotte in 1790. At one time the house was the home of Queen Victoria's mother, the Duchess of Kent. After her death, her son-in-law, Prince Albert, commissioned the building of an elegant mausoleum to hold her remains.

Gainsborough Old Hall is among the biggest and best-preserved medieval manor houses in England. It is part timber-framed but mostly brick-built. It is a splendid monument to one man’s ambitions and accomplishment, across one of the most turbulent periods of English history. Pay a visit to learn about the families that have lived in and managed the old hall through the centuries and to find out how the house has been involved in British history.

Grace Dieu was founded in 1235 as an Augustinian nunnery, and was dissolved by Henry VIII in 1538. The site is surrounded by earthworks that suggest fish ponds and is known for its resident ghost.The priory was fairly large, having in 1337 sixteen nuns. It also had an attached hospital which cared for twelve poor people. The ruins stand in a valley bottom bounded by a small brook on the edge of Charnwood Forest and are situated on the A512 road from Loughborough to Ashby de la Zouch, Leicestersh

Grange Court is the last surviving market house known to be built by John Abel, a local master carpenter, in the year of 1633. The building originally stood at the top of Broad Street in Leominster and housed the weekly butter market, selling chickens, eggs, and butter. It was then known as the Butter Crosse. The building has had many different functions in its near 400-year life, and every new owner has adapted the building to make it fit for their purpose.