117 Old Ruins to Explore in England

Beningbrough Hall was built in 1716 for John Bourchier whose family had held the estate since Tudor times. It has baroque interiors, cantilevered stairs, wood carving, and central corridors which run the length of the house. Externally the house is a red-brick Georgian mansion with a grand drive running to the main frontage and a walled garden, The house is home to more than 100 portraits on loan from the National Portrait Gallery. It has a restaurant, shop, and garden shop, and was shortlisted

A beautiful and Picturesque watermill with a working waterwheel. It was built as a fishing lodge in 1591, converted to a fulling mill around 1640 and then converted to a corn mill in about 1840, which continued working until the 1930s. It is well worth a visit for all the family. The working waterwheel and the grounds give plenty of scope for family fun. The grounds have a pond, wetlands and woods and are home to a variety of wildlife including birds, bats, waterfowl, bugs, and beetles.

One of Europe's oldest timber-framed buildings which was once owned by the Cistercian monks at Coggeshall Abbey. The massive roof is supported by an elaborate system of timber posts and beams, with 6 interior bays with aisles. The roof is covered in simple red tiles made by hand. It was one of the oldest surviving iconic buildings in this area.

The National Trust's Cotehele, Cornwall, is a Tudor house with superb collections, garden, quay and estate. The house was probably founded around 1300 and various alterations were made in the early fifteenth century. It includes a mill, 15 century chapel and Cotehele Quay. They receive around 100,000 visitors a year to its Barn Restaurant and Edgcumbe Arms Tearoom.

Cragside was the home of an extraordinary man, William George Armstrong (1810-1900). He was a scientist and technical innovator of genius. It was the first house in the world to be lit by hydro-electric power, using man-made lakes and underground piping. The grounds of the Cragside Estate offer up a host of activities that will keep you and your family busy and fit. There's a play area, a rhododendron maze, a waterfall and the Trim Trail, where the whole family can test their agility.

Croome Court is a mid-18th-century Neo-Palladian mansion surrounded by extensive landscaped parkland at Croome D'Abitot, near Upton-upon-Severn in south Worcestershire, England. The mansion and park were designed by Lancelot "Capability" Brown for the 6th Earl of Coventry, and they were Brown's first landscape design and first major architectural project. Some of the mansion's rooms were designed by Robert Adam. The Church of St Mary Magdalene that sits within the grounds of the park is owned an

Dunstanburgh Castle stands on a remote headland in Northumberland. The castle was built at a time when relations between King Edward II and his most powerful baron, Earl Thomas of Lancaster, had become openly hostile. Lancaster began the fortress in 1313, and the latest archaeological research indicates that he built it on a far grander scale than was originally recognised, perhaps more as a symbol of his opposition to the king than as a military stronghold.

Set amid woodland in North Yorkshire, this unusual monastery is the best preserved Carthusian priory in Britain. The monastery consisted of a church and two cloisters. The Great Cloister, to the north of the church, had seventeen cells for monks whilst the southern Lesser Cloister had six cells for the lay brothers. Wander the ruins and discover how the monks lived 600 years ago in the reconstructed monk’s cell and herb plot. Explore the rooms of the Arts and Crafts manor house and then head out

The National Trust's Priest's House, Easton on the Hill, is a small 15th century stone building in Northamptonshire. It was built by John Stokes (or Stokke), who was Rector of Easton from 1456 until his death in 1495. The chantry priest would have lived here until 1545 when chantries became illegal following the dissolution of the monasteries and the associated funds were appropriated by the Crown.

Smallhythe Place in Small Hythe, near Tenterden in Kent, is a half-timbered house built in the late 15th or early 16th century and since 1947 cared for by the National Trust. It has existed as a simple working farm, one of the most significant shipyards in medieval England, and later the home of distinguished Victorian actress, Dame Ellen Terry. The unique Barn Theatre radiates the spirit and history of Ellen's life. Discover this hidden gem in the Kent countryside.

Sutton Hoo is the site of a group of Anglo-Saxon burial mounds from the 6th and 7th centuries. One of the mounds, excavated in 1939, revealed the remains of a 90-foot long wooden ship. Most of these objects are now held by the British Museum. Scholars believe Rædwald of East Anglia is the most likely person to have been buried in the ship. The site is important in establishing the history of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of East Anglia as well as illuminating the early Anglo-Saxon period which lacked

Willington Dovecote is the most famous thing in Willington. It was listed by the former Department of Environment in July 1964 as Grade I, of exceptional interest. The cote and adjoining stable block are thought to have been built with stone from Newnham Priory. A signature on the stone above the fireplace in the stables reads "John Bunyan", but its authenticity has not been proven. They have a fascinating history and are well worth a visit.

Winchester City Mill is one of the oldest working watermills in the country, with over a thousand years of milling history behind it. Its history goes back over a thousands of years and in the Domesday survey of 1086 a Mill was recorded to be in its exact location. The building you see today was rebuilt and extended in the late 13 Century and again by its tenant James Cooke in 1743.

Netley Abbey is the most complete surviving Cistercian monastery in southern England. After the Suppression of the Monasteries the buildings were converted into a mansion for Sir William Paulet. The ruins now reflect over 800 years of change, during which the abbey was transformed from a monastic house to a mansion house, and later to a romantic ruin.

A beautiful seventeenth-century brick house and a mainly twentieth-century garden by Major Edward Compton. It is 3 miles south-east of Ripon and 6 miles south of Topcliffe Castle, by which the manor of Newby was originally held. A Grade I listed building, the hall contains a collection of furniture and paintings and is surrounded by extensive gardens. Newby Hall is open to the public.

Newport arch is the most famous Roman remain in Lincoln, and the best preserved and it dates to the start of the 2nd century AD. It is famous as the only Roman arch in Britain still in use for daily transportation. As the north gate of the city, it carried the major Roman road Ermine Street northward almost in a straight line to the Humber.

Normanton Church served as a parish church until the early 1700s when a large part of the village was demolished to create an estate for the Heathcote Baronets. These wealthy aristocrats used the church as their private chapel and mausoleum. It was later rebuilt in a classical style in the 18th century when the Heathcote Baronets created their estate in Rutland and used the parish church as their private chapel.

The remains of North Leigh Roman Villa are set within a peaceful landscape on the banks of the river Evenlode in Oxfordshire. This ‘courtyard villa’ is considered to be one of the larger villas of Roman Britain. It was at its most extensive in the early 4th century, when it included three bath suites, 16 mosaic floors and 11 rooms with under-floor heating. Significant finds of pre-Roman Iron Age pottery and other features beneath the former south-west range show evidence of earlier occupation.

Nuffield Place was the home of William Morris, Lord Nuffield, founder of the Morris Motor Car Company. Despite his wealth, Morris chose to live simply and gave away much of his wealth to a variety of philanthropic causes. The house is furnished as Morris and his wife left it, in attractive yet unpretentious 1930s Art Deco style.

A once immense mansion constructed in 1563-8 by the Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, Sir Nicholas Bacon. A prolific builder, Sir Nicholas spent many years expanding and adapting the residence - the showpiece of which was undoubtedly an elaborate and expensive porch adorning the entrance. The house was built partly from bricks taken from the old Abbey buildings at St Albans, then in process of demolition following the Benedictine priory's dissolution some 25 years earlier.