Historic Monuments in England

The Tower of London

• The Tower of London was built by William the Conqueror in 1066 to 1067 and is the leading historic attraction in England, according to AboutBritain.com. The tower has a long history of imprisonment, torture and execution, and the crown jewels of the English royalty are kept there. The Tower of London was the site of Anne Boleyn's beheading and the prison of many royals including Elizabeth I and Richard II. Tours are available of the tower, the crown jewels, the chapel and graveyard and the torture chambers.

  Tower of London
  Tower Hill
  England, UK EC3N 4AB
  +44-020-7709-0765
  hrp.org.uk

Trafalgar Square

• Trafalgar Square is located in central London and was built in the 1840s to commemorate Admiral Nelson's defeat of Napoleon's French fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. In the center of Trafalgar square is Nelson's Column, a 170-foot column topped with a statue of Admiral Nelson.

  The square is also home to statues of other famous Englishmen, including George IV and military leaders Sir Henry Havelock and Sir Charles James Napier.

  The equestrian statue of King Charles I is located on the original site of Charing Cross. According to AboutBritain.com, Charing Cross was a cross placed by Edward I in 1290 and is the spot from which all distances in London are measured.

  Trafalgar Square
  London
  WC2N 5DN
  +44-020-7983-4750
  london.gov.uk/trafalgarsquare/index.jsp

Stonehenge

• Stonehenge was built in approximately 3100 B.C. on the Salisbury Plain in what is now the county of Wiltshire. The true reason behind the construction of Stonehenge is still unknown, but theories include human sacrifice, worship and astronomy. Historians estimate that more than 30 million hours of labor went into the construction of Stonehenge.

  Visitors can view the stones from the outside, but rarely are there tours that allow visitors to walk among the stones.

  Stonehenge
  Salisbury
  Angleterre, UK 0 SP4 7
  +44-01980-624715
  stonehenge.co.uk

Hadrian's Wall

• Hadrian's Wall was built in 122 A.D. during England's Roman rule by order of the Emperor Hadrian. The Romans used the wall to keep track of people traveling between the northern and southern areas of Britain and as a center for trade. When it was built the walls were more than 15 feet high and 10 feet thick and stretched for more than 73 miles. Hadrian's Wall was declared a U.N. Heritage Site in 1987 because of its cultural significance.

  Hadrian's Wall Heritage
  East Peterel Field
  Dipton Mill Road
  Hexham, UK NE46 2JT
  +44 01434 609700
  hadrians-wall.org