Eleven potential World Heritage sites make up UK shortlist
From the very north of Scotland to the Garden of England, outstanding sites form new tentative list for nomination for World Heritage status
The sites on the list announced today by Tourism and Heritage Minister John Penrose are:
- Chatham Dockyard and its Defences, Kent, England
- Creswell Crags, Derbyshire/Nottinghamshire, England
- England’s Lake District, Cumbria
- Gorham’s Cave Complex, Gibraltar
- The Island of St Helena, South Atlantic Ocean
- Jodrell Bank Observatory, Cheshire, England
- Mousa, Old Scatness & Jarlshof, Shetland, Scotland
- Slate Industry of North Wales
- The Flow Country, Scotland
- The Forth Bridge (Rail), Scotland
- Turks & Caicos Islands, West Indies
Two sites that are being considered by UNESCO already will also join the Tentative List, they are:
- Twin Monastery of Wearmouth-Jarrow, Sunderland and South Tyneside, England
- Darwin’s Landscape Laboratory, Kent, England
John Penrose said:
“Few places in the world can match the wealth of wonderful heritage we have available in the UK. The 11 places that make up the new UK Tentative List are fantastic examples of both our cultural and natural heritage and I believe they have every chance of joining famous names like the Sydney Opera House and the Canadian Rockies to become World Heritage Sites.
“I’d like to thank the independent expert panel chaired by Sue Davies who have been through all our nominations in detail to make sure the shortlist we now have gives us the best chance of success when putting forward any of these sites to UNESCO in future.”
From L-R: Forth Bridge, the Lake District, Turks and Caicos Islands, Slate Industry of North Wales, Mousa
Simon Thurley, Chief Executive of English Heritage said:
“English Heritage welcomes the announcement of the new UK Tentative List as it will set the direction for future nominations by the UK for the next decade. English Heritage has supported the work on the preparation of the new List along with Historic Scotland, Cadw and the Northern Ireland Environment Agency and looks forward to working with the English candidate sites as they develop their nominations.”
The new Tentative List will now be submitted to UNESCO with the aim of nominating new sites from 2012. Whether sites are given a nomination slot will depend on the robustness of their case and the likelihood of inscription by the World Heritage Committee. We will be working with all the sites on their nominations.