World Heritage Sites

The 1972 UNESCO World Heritage Convention is an international agreement based on the understanding that certain natural and cultural places on earth are of outstanding, universal value and as such, should form part of the common heritage of humankind.

The splendour of these sites enriches our lives and illustrates the diversity of the planet and its inhabitants. They are ours to share, cherish and respect, and their disappearance would be an irreparable loss to humanity.

The World Heritage List contains over 800 sites including places as unique and diverse as The Great Wall of China, The Pyramids of Egypt, the Great Barrier Reef in Australia and closer to home, Stonehenge, Hadrian's Wall, the Cities of Bath and Edinburgh, and of course, the Ironbridge Gorge which was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1986.

The Ironbridge Gorge was included on the World Heritage Site List because of its unique role in the birth of the industrial Revolution which originated in Britain in the eighteenth century and later spread across the world.

For more information on World Heritage Sites, choose from the options below.