Venue

An imposing landmark, the twin 12th-century towers of the ruined church stand amid the remains of an important Roman 'Saxon Shore' fort and a Saxon monastery.

The most dominant features of this site are the 12th-century towers of the former monastic church, which stand out on the skyline for miles around.

Coastal erosion has brought the edge of the beach to the towers, which act as a navigation marker for shipping. Much of the site has now been lost to the sea.

The home of the Venerable Bede, chronicler of the beginnings of English Christianity, Jarrow has become one of the best-understood Anglo-Saxon monastic sites. The Anglo-Saxon church - with the oldest dedication stone in the country, dated AD 685 - partly survives as the chancel of the parish church.

Covering as much as 2,000 hectares (4,942 acres) of heather-covered hills with stunning views of the Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and the Welsh hills, this is an important place for wildlife, geology and archaeology.

Bangor Cathedral, which stands in the centre of the city, is one of the earliest monastic settlements in Britain, being founded by St. Deiniol in around the year 525 (making it 70 years older than Canterbury Cathedral) on land given by the king of Gwynedd, Maelgwn Gwynedd. Having been given land, Deniol enclosed it with a fence constructed by driving poles into the ground and weaving branches in between them. The native technical term for this type of fence was 'bangor', which is how the city derived its name. Within this enclosure Deiniol built his church.