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The List of World Heritage Sites in the United Kingdom is a group of places chosen by UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
There are 28 UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the United Kingdom and overseas territories. The UNESCO list has seventeen properties in England (the Frontiers of the Roman Empire is shared with Germany), four in Scotland, three in Wales, one in Northern Ireland, and one in each of the overseas territories of Bermuda, the Pitcairn Islands, and Saint Helena.
UNESCO was created for the "conservation and protection of the world’s inheritance of books, works of art and monuments of history and science". The constitution of UNESCO was ratified in 1946 by 26 countries, including the United Kingdom.
The UK contributes £130,000 annually to the World Heritage Fund which finances the preservation of sites in developing countries. Some locations have many sites that have a common geographical location or cultural history.
The World Heritage list has developed over time. It is part of a process; and the list continues to grow.
The United Kingdom National Commission for UNESCO advises the British government on policies dealing with UNESCO. The British government is responsible for maintaining its World Heritage Sites.
The first sites in the UK to be added to the World Heritage List, in 1986, were:
The latest site to be added was Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal in 2009.
There are 10 criteria for a site to be able to be added to the list. World Heritage Site selection criteria i–iv are culturally based. selection criteria vii–x are natural criteria. Twenty-three properties are listed as "cultural". Four are listed as "natural". One is listed as "mixed", which means that the site is notable for both natural and cultural criteria. This is similar to the proportions of all World Heritage Sites. Of the 890 sites on the World Heritage List, 77.4% are cultural, 19.8% are natural, and 2.8% are mixed. St Kilda is the only mixed World Heritage Site in the UK. At first, it was added to the list because of its natural habitats. In 2005, the crofting community that once was part of the archipelago was added to the site. The natural sites are the Dorset and East Devon Coast, Giant's Causeway and Causeway Coast, Gough and Inaccessible Islands and Henderson Island. The rest are cultural.
As of 2012, there are 28 places in the United Kingdom which are on the World Heritage List.
There are 13 sites which are on a tentative list.
| Name | Image | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blaenavon Industrial Landscape |  |
Wales, Blaenavon Blaenavon, Wales | cultural site |
| Blenheim Palace |  |
England, Oxfordshire, Woodstock Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England | cultural site |
| Canterbury Cathedral, St Augustine's Abbey, and St Martin's Church |  |
England, Kent, Canterbury Canterbury, Kent, England | cultural site |
| Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd |  |
Wales, Conwy Conwy, Isle of Anglesey and Gwynedd, Wales | cultural site |
| City of Bath |  |
England, Somerset Bath, Somerset, England | cultural site |
| Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape |  |
England, Cornwall Cornwall and Devon, England | cultural site |
| Derwent Valley Mills |  |
England, Derbyshire Derbyshire, England | cultural site |
| Dorset and East Devon Coast |  |
England, Dorset Dorset and Devon, England | natural site — also called Jurassic Coast |
| Durham Castle and Cathedral |  |
England, Durham Durham, County Durham, England | cultural site |
| Frontiers of the Roman Empire |  |
Hadrian's Wall, northern England and Antonine Wall, southern Scotland | cultural site—scattered limes in the UK and in Germany |
| Giant's Causeway and Causeway Coast |  |
Northern Ireland, County Antrim County Antrim, Northern Ireland | natural site |
| Gough and Inaccessible Island |  |
Saint Helena Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, South Atlantic Ocean | |
| Heart of Neolithic Orkney |  |
Scotland, Orkney Orkney, Scotland | cultural site |
| Henderson Island |  |
Pitcairn Henderson Island, Pitcairn Islands, Pacific Ocean | |
| Historic Town of St George and Related Fortifications, Bermuda |  |
Bermuda St George, Bermuda | cultural site |
| Ironbridge Gorge |  |
England, Shropshire Shropshire, England | cultural site |
| Liverpool – Maritime Mercantile City |  |
England, Merseyside Liverpool, Merseyside, England | cultural site |
| Maritime Greenwich |  |
England, Greater London, Greenwich Greenwich, London | cultural site |
| New Lanark |  |
Scotland, New Lanark New Lanark, South Lanarkshire, Scotland | cultural site |
| Old and New Towns of Edinburgh |  |
Scotland, Edinburgh Edinburgh, Scotland | cultural site |
| Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal |  |
Wales, Wrexham Wrexham, Wales and Shropshire, England | cultural site |
| Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew |  |
England, Greater London, Kew Kew, Greater London, England | cultural site |
| St Kilda |  |
Scotland, St Kilda St Kilda, Scotland | mixed site |
| Saltaire |  |
England, West Yorkshire Saltaire, Bradford, West Yorkshire, England | cultural site |
| Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites | |
England, Wiltshire Wiltshire, England | cultural site — Stonehenge, Avebury |
| Studley Royal Park including the Ruins of Fountains Abbey |  |
England, North Yorkshire North Yorkshire, England | cultural site |
| Tower of London |  |
England, Greater London, Tower Hamlets Tower Hamlets, London | cultural site |
| Westminster Palace, Westminster Abbey and Saint Margaret's Church |  |
Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey, London | cultural site |
The "Tentative List" is an list of important heritage and natural sites that a country is considering adding to the World Heritage List. The Tentative List can be updated at any time. Being on the list is needed for a site to be considered to be added within a five to ten year period.
There are 13 sites on the tentative list.
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Forth Bridge
Flowers in front of the Palm House, Kew Gardens
Fountains Abbey, Yorkshire
Gorham's Cave
Caves Creswell Crags
Glenridding, Cumbria, England
Lovell Telescope
Anglesey Barracks
