A thousand years of fortresses — the oldest inhabited castle on Earth, a mighty stronghold on the wild Northumberland coast, and a moated castle that floats on its own lake.

Where the words came from — Shakespeare's birthplace, the windswept parsonage of the Brontës, and the lakeside cottage where Wordsworth wrote.

The most haunted places in the land — a fortress thick with executed queens, a clifftop abbey that inspired Dracula, and a village with a dozen resident ghosts.

Palaces of the aristocracy — the birthplace of Churchill, the real Downton Abbey, and treasure houses of art set in landscapes designed to dazzle.

Soaring stone, stained glass and the tallest spire in Britain — the medieval cathedrals and abbey ruins that took centuries to build and still take your breath away.

The Roman Empire's wild northern frontier — a wall marching for 73 miles across the neck of Britain, its forts, and the steaming baths of Aquae Sulis.

A stone arch in the sea, chalk cliffs that blaze white, a tidal-island castle and the very end of England — the country's most spectacular coastline.

Stone circles older than the pyramids, a buried Stone Age village, and monuments whose true purpose no one fully understands — Britain's prehistoric wonders.

England's most beautiful national park — deep glittering lakes, the country's highest peaks, and the fells that inspired Wordsworth and Beatrix Potter.

Castles on island lochs, a valley made for legends, and the otherworldly rock pinnacles of Skye — the wildest, most cinematic corner of Britain.