Mont Orgueil Castle

Explore one of the world’s finest examples of a medieval castle which has cast its shadow over the beautiful fishing village of Gorey for over 800 years. Take in breathtaking views of the French coast as you delve into the network of staircases, towers and secret rooms to discover hidden treasures.

St Agnes Parish Museum

St Agnes and the outlying villages and hamlets of Mount Hawke, Porthtowan, Mithian, Trevellas and Blackwater have a long and interesting history. There is evidence from flint tools that seven thousand years ago people lived in the area; the Bronze Age residents left us barrows, and the Bolster bank earthwork provides archaeologists with an Iron Age or Dark Ages mystery.

From the Middle Ages the church at St Agnes provided a focus for a cluster of dwellings and in the nineteenth century Methodism inspired the building of numerous chapels in the parish.

Small fields with ancient stone hedges reflect the enclosure of land from surrounding moorland. The moorland itself is pockmarked with surface mining for tin and copper. This enterprise reached its height in the mid-nineteenth century with ever-deeper workings and skilfully constructed mine buildings – many still standing.

From the harbour at Trevaunance Cove ships took copper ore to be smelted in Swansea, returning with coal. Until its demise in 1917 the harbour was also used by mackerel and pilchard boats.

Today, the parish relies predominantly on tourism – not surprising in such a beautiful area.

Milton Keynes Museum

The Museum was founded in 1973 when a group of local people began to collect items found in farms and factories that were being closed down to make way for the development of Milton Keynes, the UK’s last ‘new city’.

Milton Keynes Development Corporation allowed the enthusiasts to house the items in Stacey Hill Farm, Wolverton.

The estate itself had strong historical interest having been bought by the eminent physician Dr John Radcliffe in 1713, when he became MP for Buckingham.

The volunteers formed themselves into the Stacey Hill Society to develop the collection with the long term aim of creating a proper museum. Since this time, ownership of the collection has remained separate from the ownership of the land and buildings.

Tetbury Police Museum & Courtroom

“Our resident Sergeant is always on duty in the station watching over the prisoners, local troublemakers and the public as he has done for over a hundred years.”

Yorkshire Museum of Farming

The Yorkshire Museum of Farming is a charitable trust dedicated to the preservation of the history of farming in Yorkshire and further afield. Our museum is located at Murton Park, near the village of Murton which lies just outside York. Murton Park is also home to the Danelaw Centre for Living History, The Derwent Valley Light Railway, The York and District Beekeepers Association and is also the base for the York and District Guild of Spinners, Weavers, and Dyers (Click on the ‘Our Community’ tab for further information on these and many other groups associated with the museum).

We are the only museum in the district specifically dedicated to the agricultural history of the Ridings of Yorkshire which encompass diverse terrain from the Wolds and the coastal North York Moors to the Pennine Dales, and are noted for both livestock and arable farming.

Scottish National Portrait Gallery

Come face to face with the people who shaped Scotland’s past, present and future at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.

Pendennis Castle

Wall Roman Site and Museum (Letocetum Site and Museum)

Wall in Staffordshire was an important staging post on Watling Street, the Roman military road to north Wales. The road network was crucial to the Romans’ control over their empire. At staging posts like Wall weary Roman officials, soldiers and imperial messengers could find lodging for the night and change their horses.

At Wall today you can still see the remains of an inn for travellers and the public baths, with its sequence of cold, warm and hot rooms. The museum provides a fascinating insight into life here and displays many excavated finds.

The site is managed and maintained by English Heritage, and owned by the National Trust.

Milford House Museum

Milford House is an architectural and technological wonder. The former seat of the Mc Crum family one of Ireland’s premier linen manufacturing dynasties, the proprietors of the world famous firm of Mc Crum, Watson & Mercer Ltd. They created the model village of Milford. The house was later home to the Manor House School.

Milford House is famous as the most technologically advanced house in nineteenth century Ireland – the first in Ireland to be lit hydroelectricity. The house is world famous as the birthplace and home of William Mc Crum (1865-1932) who invented the penalty kick rule in football in Milford village in 1890!

The creation of Robert Garmany Mc Crum (1827-1915), self made industrialist, engineer, and benefactor. It sums up the characteristics of one of Ireland’s greatest genius and mightiest industrialists who revolutionized the world of linen manufacturing. The house sums up his power, vigor, boldness and originality. It is not a house to wonder at but to enjoy. An extraordinary family home that symbolizes the temperament of R.G Mc Crum, his career and the greatest achievements of the Victorian age.

It was built between 1864 and 1915 and was undoubtedly designed by R. G Mc Crum. He continued improving the house throughout is life. As with business his determination never wavered despite his age.

On his death in 1915 the house was valued at £3,250 and the contents were worth £2,500. The house passed to his son William. Following the Wall Street crash of 1929, the decline in the linen industry combined with his gambling debts there was a seven day auction during which the contents were dispersed. William left Milford and upon death in 1932 the property passed to his sister Mrs. Harriette Miller of Drumsill House.

In 1936 the house was leased to the Manor House School and became a Country House residential school for girls. In 1940 with great reluctance and having been persuaded by her sons Mrs. Miller sold Milford House and forty acres of the estate and parkland to the Manor House School for £3,000- a sum which Mrs. Wilson the founder of the school considered a lot of money at that time. The house remained a school for twenty nine years until it closed in December 1965.

In 1966 the Manor House School sold the house and forty acres of estate and parkland to the Northern Ireland Hospital Authorities for £22,500 and an additional £3,000 for furnishings. It then became the Manor House Special Care Hospital. The hospital closed in 1988.

In 1996 property was acquired by Armagh City and District Council for £250,000. In 2000 the Friends of Manor House was established by Stephen Mc Manus when he was fifteen years old to work with Armagh Council to secure the future of Milford House. The property was sold to the current owners in March 2002. Both Milford House and its fountain (which was stolen in 1996) have been on the BHARNI (Built Heritage at Risk Register Northern Ireland) Register since 1999. The house is listed under the title of its last use Manor House. The house is enduring ongoing horrific vandalism and theft and it is now rapidly deteriorating at an alarming rate.

In November 2010 the Ulster Architectural Heritage Society declared Milford House as one of the top twelve listed buildings at most serious risk in Northern Ireland; as part of the ‘Dirty Dozen historic buildings at most serious risk in Ulster. The Milford Buildings Preservation Trust continues to work tirelessly to try and protect Milford House, its parkland and gardens for the benefit of the nation.

Erddig

Explore a much-loved home, garden and estate filled with the stories of a family and their servants.