17 minute read
World Wonders
GLOBAL GLORIES GLORIES
for local landscapes
Advertisement
The Shire region is blessed with a number of Unesco World Heritage Sites and has just gained another – the glorious slate landscape around Gwynedd. Discover more about the wonders on your doorstep and why the accolade is so important to the places it’s bestowed upon
Being named a World Heritage Site is a big deal. Joining the hallowed list alongside sites such as the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, the Great Wall of China and the Hill Forts of Rajasthan is worth shouting about, and we’re here to do that about the slate landscape of north-west Wales – the latest UK site to be added to Unesco’s World Heritage List.
There are now 33 such sites in the UK (after Liverpool’s historic docklands unfortunately lost its listing this year), and we’re particularly fortunate in this part of the country to be within easy travelling distance of at least six – with four in Wales alone!
WHY IT MATTERS
You may be forgiven for wondering what all this means and why it’s important. The World Heritage system is governed by Unesco, the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organisation. “World Heritage” is the designation given to places on Earth that are of outstanding universal value to humanity and, as such, have been inscribed on the World Heritage List to be protected for future generations to appreciate and enjoy.
This list is upheld, with newcomers being considered and existing places constantly assessed, by the World Heritage Committee. This was formed
Clockwise from left: the slate landscape of Gwynedd is the newest World Heritage Site in the UK; Jodrell Bank in Cheshire; the Iron Bridge in 1976 and is made up of representatives of 21 of the countries that have signed up to the 1972 World Heritage Convention. The convention was created after nations from around the world stepped in to prevent a dam being built that would have led to the flooding and destruction of several ancient Egyptian sites, temples and artefacts. After the work was redesigned in a way that preserved these vital historic places, nations came together and pledged to safeguard the future of similarly significant sites. To date, 193 countries have signed the convention and the committee members are elected from within them on six-year terms.
HELPING HERITAGE
Once a site is on the World Heritage List, the resulting prestige can help to raise awareness among citizens and governments when it comes to preserving that heritage. The idea is that greater awareness will lead to a general rise in the level of
the protection and conservation given to heritage properties in general. A country may also receive financial assistance and expert advice from the World Heritage Committee to support activities for the preservation of its sites.
The committee meets once a year to discuss all matters relating to the implementation of the convention and in particular those matters relating to the organisations four main duties:
• To select new sites for the list from those nominated • To monitor the state of conservation of sites on the list • To decide in cases of urgent need which sites on the list should be placed on the List of World Heritage Sites In Danger • To distribute money to protect sites on the list
Having a new site in Wales on the list is a great achievement and the result of many years of tirelesss campaigning to have the status awarded. Turn the page to take a closer look at the latest member of this exclusive hall of fame, as well as the other World Heritage Sites that truly put our region on the world map. >
Wonders The of Wales
The addition of the slate hills to the World Heritage List means Wales now has more Unesco sites per square mile than anywhere else in the world THE SLATE LANDSCAPE OF NORTH-WEST WALES
The newest member of heritage’s elite club includes the historic settlements, railways and landscape of six main quarry areas: Penrhyn, Dinorwig, Nantlle Valley, Gorseddau and Prince of Wales, Ffestiniog and Bryneglwys. The area spans 8,053 acres, making it the 10th largest of the UK’s 33 Unesco areas.
“The quarrying and mining of slate has left a unique legacy in Gwynedd, which the communities are rightly proud of, ” says Mark Drakeford, first minister of Wales. In the 1890s, the slate industry employed nearly 17,000 people and produced 485,000 tonnes of slate a year. Slate from Gwynedd was used to build the roofs of the Houses of Parliament in London, Copenhagen city hall and the Royal Exhibition Building in Australia.
In bestowing its new status, the World Heritage Committee (WHC) said: “The slate landscape of north-west Wales illustrates the transformation that industrial slate quarrying and mining brought about in the traditional rural environment of the mountains and valleys of Snowdonia. The territory was internationally significant not only for the export of slates, but also for the export of technology and skilled workers from the 1780s to the early 20th century. It offers an important and remarkable example of interchange of materials, technology and human values.”
Ffestiniog Rail y’s role in mo ng slate
When slate was first quarried in north-west Wales, it was transported by horse and cart, and then on to river boats. As demand for slate grew, a better system was required. Ffestiniog Railway opened in 1836, and a combination of horse power and gravity was used to take loaded wagons from Blaenau Ffestiniog to Porthmadog. Steam locomotives were introduced to the railway in the 1860s, and engineers from all across the world came to see and to learn about the innovative use of powerful, reliable, narrowgauge locomotives in a mountainous landscape. Similar railways were developed elsewhere, such as the Himalaya (Darjeeling) Railway, itself now a World Heritage Site. You can learn more about the history of the Ffestiniog Railway at www.festrail.co.uk.
PONTCYSYLLTE AQUEDUCT AND CANAL
The creation of the aqueduct and canal was an early and outstanding example of the innovations brought about by the Industrial Revolution in Britain. “The 18km-long aqueduct and canal is a feat of civil engineering,” says the WHC. “Covering a difficult geographical setting, the building of the canal required substantial, bold civil engineering solutions, especially as it was built without using locks.
“The aqueduct is a pioneering masterpiece of engineering and monumental metal architecture, conceived by the celebrated civil engineer Thomas Telford. The use of both cast and wrought iron in the aqueduct enabled the construction of arches that were light and strong, producing an overall effect that is both monumental and elegant. It is inscribed as a masterpiece of creative genius, and recognized as an innovative ensemble that inspired many projects all over the world.”
DID YOU KNOW? Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal was built between 1795 and 1808 by Thomas Telford and William Jessop
BLAENAVON INDUSTRIAL LANDSCAPE
This area at the upper end of the Avon Llwyd valley in south Wales is a proud reflection of the area’s international importance in iron making and coal mining in the late 18th and early 19th century. The heritage status covers a number of sites including Blaenavon Ironworks and Big Pit, as well as the outstanding landscape shaped by mineral exploitation, manufacturing, transport and settlement. Across the site there is evidence of industrialisation: coal and ore Across the site there is evidence of industrialisation: coal and ore mines, quarries, a primitive railway and canal, furnaces, workers’ homes and the infrastructure of the early industrial community.
Visitors today can gain a great insight into the lives of people Visitors today can gain a great insight into the lives of people involved in the industry and take a step back in time to an era of involved in the industry and take a step back in time to an era of industrialisation that was important to the development of the industrialisation that was important to the development of the world. Some of the structures, such as furnaces, are said to be the
best preserved in the UK. Other surviving structures are a water tower and two of the original casting houses, while you can also see the remains of the workers’ housing provided on site around the base of the massive chimney to the blowing engine house, and the cast-iron pillars and brackets that carried blast pipes to the furnaces.
Adding to the location’s slightly eerie nature, Big Pit was the last working deep coal mine in the Blaenavon area; the surface buildings, including the winding gear, remain almost exactly as they were when coal production ceased in 1980. The underground workings are still in excellent condition and can be seen on guided tours.
“Taking all these elements together, the property provides one of the prime areas in the world where the full social, economic and technological process of industrialisation through iron and coal production can be studied and understood,” says the WHC.
THE CASTLE AND TOWN WALLS OF KING EDWARD IN GWYNEDD
The vague title of this site is a bit hard to get your head around but if you know your local history, you’ll know that King Edward I of England had a hand in more than a few of the area’s most magnificent monuments and fortresses. The official Unesco listing includes the four castles of Beaumaris, Conwy, Caernarfon and Harlech, as well as the associated walled structures at Conwy and Caernarfon – said to be the finest examples of late 13th and early 14th century military architecture in Europe. The level of their preservation is second to none and they are lauded for their completeness, pristine state, and extraordinary medieval architectural form. These credits come as no surprise when you consider that the man responsible for their design was James of St George, Edward I’s chief architect, and the greatest military architect of the age.
Anyone who knows the area will have a particular favourite among these castles. Not only do these structures form a vital part of north Wales’s heritage, they are also key in making our local coastline the thing of beauty it is today and has been for centuries. >
Clockwise from top: Blaenavon’s industrial landscape, Edward I’s castle at Conwy, Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and the slate landscape of north-west Wales
For your consideration
To be considered for inclusion on the Unesco World Heritage List, sites must show their importance in one of the following categories
Cultural heritage – includes architectural works, works of monumental sculpture and painting, cave dwellings, buildings, works of man or the combined works of nature and of man, and areas including archaeological sites that are of outstanding universal value from historical, aesthetic, ethnological or anthropological points of view.
Natural heritage – includes geological and physiographical formations and precisely delineated areas that constitute the habitat of threatened species of animals and plants, and natural sites of outstanding universal value from the point of view of science, conservation or natural beauty.
Modern marvels
There are two further World Heritage Sites in our area, recognised for their contribution to science and industry
DID YOU KNOW? The Iron Bridge was permanently closed to tra c in 1934, although tolls for pedestrians were collected until 1950
IRONBRIDGE GORGE
JODRELL BANK OBSERVATORY
Jodrell Bank strikes an impressive form on the Cheshire Plains. It can be stunningly photogenic and is even the location for a regular music and science festival. But the telescope is much more than a local landmark: it made its way on to the World Heritage List for its sheer scientific superiority.
The observatory’s location was selected because it was free from radio interference, and today Jodrell Bank is one of the world’s leading radio astronomy observatories. At the beginning of its use, in 1945, the property was a base for research on cosmic rays detected by radar echoes. The observatory, which is still in operation, includes several radio telescopes and working buildings, including engineering sheds and the control building.
Jodrell Bank has had substantial scientific impact in fields such as the study of meteors and the moon, the discovery of quasars, quantum optics, and the tracking of spacecraft. This exceptional technological structure was listed because it illustrates the transition from traditional optical astronomy to radio astronomy, which led to radical changes in the understanding of the universe.
The site is dominated by the 76-metre-wide Lovell Telescope – the most well-known part of the site, and the bit you can see for miles around. There are spaces open to the public, including a visitor centre around the telescope itself. Jodrell Bank earned its place on the list in 2019, after a nine-year application procedure. Those involved say the hard work was worth it. At the time of the listing they said: “World Heritage Site status is an enormous accolade for both the region and the UK, enhancing global recognition for Jodrell Bank. World Heritage Site designation enshrines the unique heritage of Jodrell Bank, and ensures that the physical heritage of the site will be managed, protected and conserved… for future generations.”
Home to multiple museums, Ironbridge Gorge is one of Shropshire’s most popular tourist sites. The area is often referred to as the “birthplace of the Industrial Revolution”, and as is obvious from its World Heritage status, it certainly played a pivotal role in transforming the way we lived in the 18th and 19th centuries. The site comprises a 5km length of the Severn Valley, from immediately west of Ironbridge to Coalport, as well as two smaller valleys extending northwards to Coalbrookdale and Madeley. It provided the raw materials that revolutionised industrial processes, and today offers a powerful insight into the origins of the Industrial Revolution. Extensive evidence of that period remains, including mines, pit mounds, spoil heaps, foundries and factories, housing and transport systems, “Jodrell Bank is dominated by the as well as the traditional landscape and forests of the Severn Gorge. 76-metre-wide Lovell Telescope, which Several features were highlighted as being of particular interest by the judges who you can see for miles around” gave the site its listing back in 1986. It was in Coalbrookdale in 1709 that Abraham Darby first developed the technique of smelting iron with coke, which began the great 18th-century iron revolution. In Ironbridge, the community draws its name from the famous Iron Bridge erected in 1779 by Abraham Darby III – the first in the world to be constructed of iron, which had a considerable influence on developments in the fields of technology and architecture. Also worthy of note Ironbridge Gorge (top) and the Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank are the remains of two blast furnaces, the Bedlam Furnaces, which were built in 1757, while in Hay Brook Valley, south of Madeley, the large open-air museum now incorporates the remains of the former Blists Hill blast furnaces and Blists Hill brick and tile works. The final reckoning
For a property to be included on the World Heritage List, it must do one of the following…
• Represent a masterpiece of human creative genius • Exhibit an important interchange of human values
“Ironbridge Gorge • Bear a unique or exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilisation provided the raw • Be an outstanding example of a building, structure or landscape illustrating a significant stage in history materials that revolutionised • Be an outstanding example of a human settlement • Be directly or tangibly associated with events or industrial processes “ living traditions, ideas or beliefs, with artistic and literary works of outstanding universal significance • Contain superlative natural phenomena or areas of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance • Be outstanding examples representing major stages of Earth’s history • Be an outstanding example representing significant ecological and biological processes in evolution • Contain the most important and significant natural habitats for conservation of biological diversity
