History & Antiquity
| Location | Information |
| Portland | |
| Stonehenge | The great and ancient stone circle of Stonehenge is one of the wonders of the world. What visitors see today are the substantial remnants of the last in a sequence of such monuments erected between circa 3000BC and 1600BC. There has always been intense debate over quite what purpose Stonehenge served. Certainly, it was the focal point in a landscape filled with prehistoric ceremonial structures, now a World Heritage Site. |
| Maiden Castle | Maiden Castle is the largest Iron Age hill fort in Europe and covers an area of 47 acres. It is situated just 2 miles south of Dorchester in Dorset. It is truly an amazing place: even after more than 2000 years, the earthworks are immense, some ramparts rising to a height of 6 metres (20 feet). |
| Roman Baths | Around Britain's only hot spring, the Romans built a magnificent temple and bathing complex that still flows with natural hot water See the water's source and walk where Romans walked on the ancient stone pavements. The extensive ruins and treasures from the spring are beautifully preserved and presented. |
| Dorchester (Roman Town) | Dorset’s county town Dorchester has a long and varied history. Named by the Romans and with various historic and archaeological attractions and museums. |
| Bovington Tank Museum | Home to the world’s largest collection of armoured fighting vehicles dating from WWI to present day. |
| Cerne Abbas Giant | 180ft chalk figure carved into the hill side. There has been much speculation regarding his origin and some believe he is 1500 years old and may represent the Roman God Hercules. |
| Portland Castle | The history of this fortress, is diverse and fascinating. Built by Henry VIII to defend Portland Harbour anchorages against possible French and Spanish invasion, its squat appearance is typical of the artillery forts built in the early 1540s. Unusually for a fortress of this period, the castle has survived largely unaltered. It first witnessed serious fighting during the Civil War, when it was seizedby both Parliamentarians and Royalists. It became a Seaplane Station during World War I, and was in the forefront of the D-Day preparations which helped to end World War II. |
| Rufus Castles & St. Andrews Church (Ruins) | The ruins of an impressive Norman castle built on a rocky promontory overlooking Portland’s Church Ope Cove and adjacent to the ruins of St Andrews Church which dates back to the 13th century and is complete with a “pirates” graveyard. |
| Poole | |
| Stonehenge | The great and ancient stone circle of Stonehenge is one of the wonders of the world. What visitors see today are the substantial remnants of the last in a sequence of such monuments erected between circa 3000BC and 1600BC. There has always been intense debate over quite what purpose Stonehenge served. Certainly, it was the focal point in a landscape filled with prehistoric ceremonial structures, now a World Heritage Site. |
| Maiden Castle | Maiden Castle is the largest Iron Age hill fort in Europe and covers an area of 47 acres. It is situated just 2 miles south of Dorchester in Dorset. It is truly an amazing place: even after more than 2000 years, the earthworks are immense, some ramparts rising to a height of 6 metres (20 feet). |
| Badbury Rings | The Iron Age hill fort in the grounds of Kingston Lacy House near Wimborne. |
| Roman Baths | Around Britain's only hot spring, the Romans built a magnificent temple and bathing complex that still flows with natural hot water See the water's source and walk where Romans walked on the ancient stone pavements. The extensive ruins and treasures from the spring are beautifully preserved and presented. |
| Bovington Tank Museum | The Tank Museum in Bovington Dorset houses the world's largest and finest collection of Armoured Fighting Vehicles from unique World War 1 tanks to the latest main battle tank of the British Army - Challenger a collection of almost 300 vehicles from over 26 countries. |
| Brownsea Island (Poole Harbour) |
An experimental camp in 1907 with 20 young boys began what is now the largest youth organisation in the world The Scouting Association. |
| Poole Harbour | An Iron Age boat (c295 BC) was discovered in the waters. |
| Cerne Giant & Abbas | The Cerne Abbas Giant or the 'Rude Man' is the largest hillfigure in Britain, The giant, carved in solid lines from the chalk bedrock measures in at 180 feet high, and carries a huge knobbled club, which measures 120 feet in length. |
| Wiltshire | |
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The great earthwork of Old Sarum stands near Salisbury on the edge of Wiltshire's chalk plains. Its mighty ramparts were raised in about 500 BC by Iron Age peoples, and later occupied by the Romans, the Saxons and, most importantly, the Normans. |
| Plymouth | |
| Barbican | Various antique shops, jewellers. Historic quarter famous for being the start point of many voyages of discovery. Mayflower Steps, located on the Barbican, commemorating the point where the Pilgrim Fathers set sail for America in 1620. There is a full list of all those who made the journey in the Mayflower, on the side of 'Island House', located in Southside Street, the Barbican. The House is reputed to be where some of the Pilgrim Father's lodged before they set sail. |
| Ilfracombe | |
| Lundy Island | A place of outstanding natural beauty, skies full of birds, pirate haunts, a medieval castle and standing stones. |
| Torbay | |
| Kents Cavern | Kents Cavern is one of the most important Palaeolithic caves in Northern Europe and the oldest recognisable human dwelling in Britain. It holds beautiful and spectacular geological formations and significant prehistoric finds, some over 700,000 yrs old. |
| Cornwall | |
| Cornwall is justly noted for its prehistoric stone circles, megalithic tombs and curious rock formations, many of which have given rise to both charming and gruesome legends. | |
| Fowey | |
| Rumps Cliff Castle Polzeath | although there are more than 30 examples of these Iron Age fortifications left crumbling around the county, the Rumps is the most stunning example for both its visible formation and staggering location. |
| The Tristan Stone Fowey | Representing a time when Christianity flooded the Cornish culture, inscribed stones such as this one began to spring up from around 450AD. |
| Falmouth | |
| National Maritime Museum Cornwall | Be transported into the world of small boats and the maritime history and heritage of Cornwall. |
| Mounts Bay | |
| Merry Maidens. |
There is a well-known tradition that the stones represent maidens who were turned into stone for dancing on the Sabbath. |
| Men-an-Tol |
The suspicion is that these three stones are the remains of a Neolithic tomb, primarily because holed stones have been found in conjunction with the entrances to burial chambers. The doughnut-shaped stone is best known for the traditional belief that it had the power to heal illnesses. To cure rickets and tuberculosis, naked children were passed through the hole three times and then dragged through the grass three times toward the east. Adults seeking cure from rheumatism or spinal troubles crawled through the hole nine times against the sun. |
| Chysauster Ancient Village | Contains many of the hallmarks of the traditional Cornish village, right down to the street of neat stone cottages with terraced gardens. The remarkable thing is that the inhabitants lived here nearly 2000 years ago. |
| The Hurlers | The Hurlers are the remnants of three stone circles whose original purpose was probably Druidical but is now lost in the mists of time. |
| Cheesewring | Legend tells us that the Cheesewring was formed in the time of Saints and Giants. The Giants reckoned the Saints were setting up too many preaching crosses, taking too many wells as holy and claiming too many tithes from the hard won harvest of the land and sea and enjoying too much attention. |
| Lanyon Quoit | Megalithic chamber tombs, the last resting place of warriors from some four thousand years ago. The most impressive are Trethevy Quoit, near Liskeard and Lanyon Quoit, situated between Penzance and Lands End. King Arthur himself is said to have used Lanyon Quoit as a dining table on the eve of his last battle. |
