Britain's Superlatives - the highest, longest, oldest and most expensive things in the UK
Read a listing of Britain's superlatives.
What's the highest mountain in Britain? What is the longest river? Did you know Britain's oldest cathedral? Which has the tallest spire? What team is the oldest football club? Who is the longest reigning monarch? What is Britain's tallest waterfall and oldest clock? What's the oldest bridge in Cambridge?
Further information on many of the listed entries on Britain's best, biggest and brightest is available via accompanying links.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
A
Album - the best selling album in the UK is Greatest Hits, a compilation by Queen that was first released in 1981. Next is 21 by Adele.
Airport - Heathrow Airport is the busiest airport in the UK and makes the top 10 of the busiest airports in the world.
Aqueduct - Pontcysyllte Aqueduct is the very first aqueduct made out of cast iron. It is also the highest navigable canal aqueduct in the world and the longest in Great Britain. It is also a UNESCO World Heritage site. Marple Aqueduct, designed by Benjamin Outram and constructed from 1794-1800, is the tallest masonry-arch aqueduct in the UK.
B
Battle - the Battle of Towton in 1461 during the War of the Roses is believed to be the largest and bloodiest battle ever fought in England.
Boats - HMS Victory is the world's oldest naval ship still in commission.
Bookshops - Hatchards, now a branch of Waterstones, claims to be the oldest bookshop in Britain, established in 1797. Waterstones Piccadilly is London's and the UK's biggest bookshop. It also claims to be the largest in Europe. It occupies what was once Simpsons department store. Foyles on Charing Cross Road, also now owned by Waterstones, once held the title of the UK's largest book store. The oldest LGBT+ bookshop in Britain is Gay's the Word in London's Bloomsbury, which began in 1979.
Brands - British brands lay claim to a number of firsts. Johnny Walker is the most widely distributed brand of blended Scotch whisky in the world; Lock & Co Hatters at 6, St James's Street in London is the world's oldest hat shop and Twining's tea has the world's oldest continually-used company logo.
Brick - Stanley Dock Tobacco Warehouse in Liverpool is the world's largest brick warehouse. Stockport railway viaduct is the largest brick built structure in western Europe.
Bridges - the longest bridge in the UK is the Second Severn Crossing, the Prince of Wales Bridge which opened in 1996. It is 5,128 meters long and carries the M4 motorway between England and Wales. The oldest bridge in London is Richmond Bridge, built between 1774 and 1777. In Cambridge, Clare Bridge is the oldest, built between 1639 and 1640, while in Oxford it is New Bridge dating back to the 13th century. Causey Arch in County Durham is the oldest surviving single-arch railway bridge in the world. It carried horse drawn carts on wooden rails to transport coal and was constructed between 1725-26. Its builder Ralph Wood committed suicide in 1727 because he was so afraid his bridge would collapse. Gateshead Millennium Bridge is a pedestrian and cyclist bridge over the River Tyne connecting Gateshead on the south bank and Newcastle on the north bank of the river. It was the world's first tilting bridge. The Axe Bridge is Britain's oldest concrete bridge dating from 1877. It can be seen on the Lyme Regis to Seaton walk.
Building - the tallest building in Britain is presently The Shard in London. It stands at a height 310 meters (1,016 feet). In second place is 22 Bishopsgate, also in London at a height of 278 meters (912 feet).
C
Canal - the longest canal in Britain is the Grand Union Canal. It is 137 miles in length from London to Birmingham.
Castle - Windsor Castle is the largest occupied castle in the world as well as being the longest occupied palace in Europe. Dover Castle also has a claim to be Britain's largest. Berkhamsted Castle is said to be the oldest motte-and-bailey castle in England built in 1067. White Tower of the Tower of London is the oldest stone castle begun in 1070.
Cathedral - Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury is Britain's oldest cathedral. Salisbury Cathedral in Salisbury is the highest with a spire reaching 123.1 meters, followed by the dome of St Paul's at 111.3 meters and the tower of Liverpool Anglican Cathedral at 101 meters. Liverpool Anglican Cathedral also has the largest interior floor area (9,687 square meters) and the longest external length (188.7 meters). Exeter Cathedral in Exeter, Devon has the longest, continuous Gothic ceiling in the world.
Derby Cathedral has the oldest ring of ten bells in the world. Most of the bells date from 1678, when the number of bells was increased from six to ten. The largest bell weighs 965 kg and is over 500 years old. The 212 feet tall tower has been home to a nesting pair of Peregrine Falcons since 2016.
Cemetery - the London Necropolis, in Surrey, is the largest cemetery in Britain. It was once one of the largest in the world. Opened in 1854, it has almost a quarter of a million graves.
Churches - St Martin's Church in Canterbury is England's oldest parish church in modern use. Hull Minster in Hull is the largest parish church in England by floor area.
City - the largest city in the UK in terms of both population and area is London. The capital has a population of 8.982 million (2019). The oldest city in England is Colchester in Essex dating back to AD 49 under the Romans. St Davids (no apostrophe) in Wales is Britain's smallest city with a population of around 1,600 people. Cardiff is the largest city in Wales, Belfast the largest in Northern Ireland and Glasgow the largest city in Scotland. The smallest cities in England by area and population are the City of London (not London as a whole which is the largest), followed by Wells in Somerset and Ely in Cambridgeshire.
Clocks - Big Ben in Westminster, London is the largest four-faced chiming clock in the world. Salisbury Cathedral Clock in Salisbury Cathedral in Salisbury is claimed to be the oldest working clock in Britain dating back to 1386. The Royal Liver Building Clock in Liverpool has Britain's largest clock face.
County - the largest traditional county in England is Yorkshire with an area of 14,850 km2. Greater London has the largest population.
Crime - the biggest heist in the UK was the 1990 theft of bonds worth £291.9 million from a courier in London. The majority of the stolen assets were recovered. The largest robbery of cash in the UK was the Securitas depot robbery in Tonbridge, Kent in 2006, when £53 million in bank notes was stolen in an armed raid, £32 million of which has never been recovered.
D
Department Stores - Harrods in Knightsbridge is the UK's largest department store. Harrods offers 330 different departments to its customers, served by over 5,000 staff. Altogether it has retail space of 90,000 square meters, making Harrods one of if not the largest in Europe. Selfridges on Oxford Street runs it close with 50,000 square meters of space.
Disco - Koko in Camden has the largest disco ball in Europe.
Distillery - the Plymouth Gin distillery is the oldest working distillery in England. Old Bushmills Distillery, in Bushmills, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, is the world's oldest licensed distillery. Glenturret distillery in Perthshire claims to be the oldest in Scotland, though this is contested by Littlemill and Strathisla distilleries. Littlemill in West Dunbartonshire is the oldest licensed whisky distillery in Scotland. Strathisla distillery in Keith is the oldest continuously operating distillery in the Scottish Highlands
Dogs - the Labrador Retriever is the most popular pedigree breed of dog. There were 13.5 million dogs in 2024 up from 10.2 million dogs in the UK in 2022. The Covid pandemic led to an increase in dog ownership in the UK. Attacks by out-of-control dogs are also increasing in the country.
Door - Britain's oldest door is in Westminster Abbey in Westminster, central London. The oak door is thought to date from the 1050s and was made for the Saxon King Edward the Confessor, the founder of Westminster Abbey.
E
East - Ness Point, aka Lowestoft Ness in Suffolk, is Britain's most easterly place.
Escalators - the escalators at Angel Station on the Northern Line are the longest on the Underground network and the longest in Britain. They measure 61 meters (200 feet) with a vertical rise of 27 meters (90 feet).
Extreme Temperatures - the highest temperature recorded so far is 38.7 °C in Cambridge Botanical Garden in July, 2019. The lowest temperature recorded so far is -27.2 °C in Braemar in Aberdeenshire in 1895 and 1982 and in Altnaharra in the Scottish Highlands.
F
Factory - the Mill at Saltaire near Bradford was the largest factory in the world in terms of floor space when it opened in 1853. The Japanese car manufacturer Nissan now operates the UK's largest factory at its plant in Sunderland.
Film Studios - Ealing Studios in Ealing, west London, is the oldest continuously working studio facility for film production in the world. It began producing movies in 1902.
First names - Oliver and Olivia are the most popular first names for boys and girls in England and Wales according to the Office for National Statistics (2019).
Football - Sheffield F.C. is the world's oldest surviving independent football club founded in 1857. Notts County are the oldest professional association football club in the world and were founded in 1862. Manchester United have won the most First Division (Premier League) titles with 20, Arsenal have won the FA Cup a record 14 times and Liverpool have won the most European competitions with 14. The Isles of Scilly Football League is officially the smallest league in world football. There are only two clubs - the Garrison Gunners and Woolpack Wanderers.
Forest - Galloway Forest in Scotland is the largest forest in Britain with an area of 297 square miles. The next largest is Kielder Forest in Northumberland at 235 square miles.
G
Garden - the oldest botanical garden in Britain is the University of Oxford Botanic Garden in Oxford, founded in 1621, ahead of the Chelsea Physic Garden in London, which dates from 1673.
Glasshouse - the Temperate House in London's Kew Gardens is the world's largest Victorian glasshouse.
Golf - St Andrews Old Course in St Andrews, Scotland is the oldest golf course in the world.
Gorge - Cheddar Gorge is Britain's largest gorge. It was carved out of the Somerset landscape by glacial meltwater hundreds of thousands of years ago. Britain's oldest complete skeleton, known as the Cheddar Man, was unearthed in one of the caverns here.
Grotto - Scott's Grotto in Ware, Hertfordshire is the largest grotto in the UK.
H
House - the smallest house in Britain is in Conwy in North Wales. Consisting of just two rooms, one upstairs and one down, its internal measurements are just 72 inches wide (183 cm) and 120 inches deep (305 cm). Knap of Howar on Orkney is a Neolithic farmstead and is thought to be the oldest preserved stone house in northern Europe.
The largest house in the UK is Wentworth Woodhouse near Rotherham in South Yorkshire. It also has the longest façade (over 600 feet) of any country home in both Britain and Europe. Wentworth Woodhouse is incredibly more than double the length of Buckingham Palace.
Hospital - St George's Hospital is the largest hospital in Britain, caring for 1.3 million people in southwest London. St Bartholomew's Hospital also in London is the oldest, having been founded in 1123.
Hotel - The Royal National Hotel in Russell Square, London is the largest hotel in Britain, with 1,630 rooms.
I
Islands - the Isle of Wight is the largest offshore island in England at 380.15 square kilometers. The largest island in Scotland and largest offshore island in Britain is Lewis and Harris with an area of 2,179 square kilometers. It also has the largest coastline. St Mary's is the largest island in the Scilly Isles archipelago.
J
Jazz - Ronnie Scott's in Soho, London is one of the oldest in Britain, having begun in 1959.
Judges - the most senior judge in the UK is the Lord Chief Justice.
K
Kings & Queens - the longest-reigning king in British history was George III but he is surpassed by two queens, Victoria and Elizabeth II. Charles III became the oldest monarch to assume the throne in 2022 at the age of 73 after the death of his mother Queen Elizabeth II.
L
Lakes - Britain's largest lake is Loch Lomond, in Scotland. England's largest lake is Windermere and England's deepest lake is Wastwater at a depth of 79 m (259 feet), both lakes are in the Lake District National Park. The largest lake by area is Lough Neagh (N. Ireland) and the largest lake by volume is Loch Ness (Scotland). In fact, Loch Ness contains more water than all the rivers and lakes of England and Wales combined.
Landslip - Britain's largest recorded landslip occurred in 1839 in the Haven Cliff area near Lyme Regis. The Bindon Landslip drew thousands of curious Victorian tourists as 15 acres of land slipped seaward creating a huge chasm and the outcrop known as Goat Island in the bay.
Largest county - the largest historic county in England is Yorkshire. Of modern counties the largest by area is North Yorkshire and the smallest is the City of London.
Library - one of the largest libraries in the world and the national library of the UK, the British Library in King's Cross, London has a collection of over 150 million items. Chetham's Library in Manchester is the oldest free public reference library in the English-speaking world.
Lighthouse - the oldest lighthouse in the UK is the Roman lighthouse at Dover Castle. It is one of only three remaining Roman lighthouses in the world. Bishop Lighthouse on Bishop Rock in the Scilly Islands and Eddystone Lighthouse in Cornwall are the tallest lighthouses in Britain, both at 161 feet. Bishop Rock is also the smallest island in the world with a building on it. The tallest lighthouse in Scotland is Skerryvore Lighthouse on the uninhabited island of Skerryvore in the Inner Hebrides at 157 feet. The Bell Rock Lighthouse, off the coast of Angus in Scotland and designed by Robert Stevenson, is the world's oldest surviving sea-washed lighthouse.
Logo - Twinings holds the world's oldest continually-used company logo. The tea specialists are also London's longest continuous ratepayer, having been on the Strand since founded by Thomas Twining in 1706. The brand is now owned by Associated British Foods, Earl Grey is the company's most popular tea.
Lowest Point - Holme Fen, specifically Holme Posts is the lowest land point in Great Britain at 2.75 meters below sea level.
M
Markets - Borough Market is London's oldest fruit and vegetable market, established in its current location in Southwark during the 13th century. The market is still London's most renowned food market, with over a hundred traders participating, selling all kinds of food from all over the world.
Mill - the House Mill in Three Mills Green in Newham, East London is the world's largest surviving tidal mill.
Mosque - the largest mosque in Britain is the Al-Jamia Suffa-Tul Islam Grand Mosque in Bradford with room for upto 8,000 worshippers. The largest in London is the East London Mosque.
Mound - Silbury Hill is the largest, artificial prehistoric mound in the UK and Europe.
Mountain - Ben Nevis, in Scotland, is the highest mountain in the UK at 1344 meters in height. Scafell Pike in the Lake District is the highest mountain in England, at a height of 978 meters (3,209 feet). Snowdon is the highest peak in Wales at 1,085 meters (3,560 feet).
MP - Charles Pelham Villiers was the longest continuously serving MP in Britain. He was elected in 1835 and remained an MP continuously for over 62 years until his death in 1898, aged 96. Since the 20th century, the longest serving MP was Edward Heath who sat from 1950 to 2001. Nancy Astor (1879-1964) though born and brought up in the USA, was the first woman to hold a seat as an MP in the House of Commons.
Museums - The British Museum in London is Britain's largest and most visited museum. IWM Duxford is Britain's and Europe's largest air museum. The V&A Museum in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts, and design with a collection of over 2.27 million pieces.
Music - the Pump Room Trio who play at the Pump Room in Bath are the longest established resident ensemble in Europe.
N
Name - the longest place name in Britain, and the second longest in the world, is Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwiiiiantysiligogogoch, a village on the island of Anglesey in North Wales. Translated into English the name means "St. Marys Church in the hollow of the white hazel near to the rapid whirlpool of Llantysilio of the red cave."
National Parks - the oldest National Park in Britain is the Peak District. Cairngorms National Park in Scotland is the largest with The Broads in England the smallest.
North - John o'Groats in Scotland is the northernmost point in mainland Great Britain. Out Stack aka Ootsta in Shetland is the northernmost point of both the UK and the British Isles.
O
Oldest Player for England - in football Stanley Matthews played for England aged 42 years and 103 days. In cricket Wilfred Rhodes played his last test aged 52 years, 165 days.
P
Parks - Richmond Park is the largest of London's eight Royal Parks and is the biggest enclosed space in London.
Piers - Southend Pier in the Thames Estuary at 1.33 miles (2.14 km) is the longest pleasure pier in the world. Southport Pier is the second-longest in Britain at 1,108 meters in length and the oldest iron pier in Britain. The oldest pier in Britain is Ryde Pier on the Isle of Wight which opened way back in 1814. The most visited pier in Britain is Brighton Pier with over 4 million visitors annually. Llandudno Pier in Llandudno is the longest pier in Wales.
Pharmacy - England's oldest pharmacy is Robert Reavley Pharmaceutical Chemist in the small town of Burford in the Cotswolds. A public house until 1734, it has been in business as an apothecary on the same premises ever since. Previously Ye Olde Chymist Shoppe in Knaresborough in North Yorkshire was the oldest. It was in operation from 1720 until 1998.
Plane crashes - British European Airways Flight 548 which crashed soon after take-off in 1972 near Staines in Surrey is the worst accident in British aviation history. The destruction of Pan Am Flight 103 by a terrorist bomb over Lockerbie in Scotland killed 259 people in 1988.
Plastic bags - the first town in Europe to ban plastic bags was Modbury in Devon in 2007.
Play - the world's longest-running play was The Mousetrap by Agatha Christie which ran in the West End from its debut in 1952 until March 2020, when it ceased due to the Covid-19 epidemic.
PM - the youngest Prime Minister to assume office was William Pitt the Younger (aged 24 years, 205 days). The longest-serving PM was Sir Robert Walpole at 7620 days between 1721-1742. Liz Truss is the shortest-serving PM in UK history. She served only 45 days in office.
Port - Felixstowe in Suffolk is Britain's busiest container port, dealing with 48% of Britain's containerized trade. The Port of Dover is the busiest passenger port.
Post Office - the world's oldest post office is Sanquhar Post Office in Scotland. It first first opened in 1712. Mount Pleasant Sorting Office is the largest Royal Mail sorting office in London. Dores Post Office on the shore of Loch Ness near Inverness was once dubbed the smallest post office in Britain. It was operated from a broom cupboard but closed in 2021.
Prison - HMP Oakwood, in the West Midlands, had the highest population of prisons in England and Wales with over 2,000 inmates. The more recent HMP Berwyn in Wales is presently second but projected to overtake Oakwood. HM Barlinnie is the largest and oldest prison in Scotland. It is due to be closed in the future and replaced with a modern institution also near Glasgow.
Pub - Several pubs in the UK claim the title of the oldest pub in Britain. These include the The Old Ferry Boat Inn in Cambridgeshire, Ye Olde Fighting Cocks in St Albans and the Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem in Nottingham. Candidates for the oldest pub in London include the Seven Stars in Holborn which escaped the Great Fire of London in 1666 and Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, which was built soon after the fire.
Q
Queens - Britain's longest reigning monarch was Queen Elizabeth II (1952-2022) followed by Queen Victoria (1837-1901).
R
Racecourses - The oldest racecourse in the world still in operation is Chester Racecourse (The Roodee) in Chester, officially recognized by Guinness World Records for its first recorded race on Shrove Tuesday 1539, following an order by Chester's Mayor Henry Gee to replace violent football matches.
Railway - the Festiniog [sic] Railway Company is the oldest surviving railway company in the world, established in 1832. It runs the Ffestiniog Railway in Snowdonia. The Great Central Railway near Leicester is Britain's and indeed the world's sole double track, main line heritage steam and diesel railway. Skerne Bridge in Darlington is the oldest railway bridge in the world still in continuous operation. Stourbridge Junction to Stourbridge Town is the shortest railway line in Britain just 1.3 km in length with the journey taking only 3 minutes.
Reservoir - Kielder Water in Northumberland is the largest in the UK. It contains 199 million cubic liters of water. It has a surface area of 6.74 miles and a 27.5 mile shoreline.
River - the longest river in the British Isles is the River Severn at 220 miles (354 km). The longest river in England is the River Thames at 215 miles (346 km). The longest river in Scotland is the River Tay which flows 120 miles (193 km) from Ben Lui to the Firth of Tay, south of Dundee.
Road - the longest road in Britain is the A1 between London and Edinburgh at 410 miles (660 km) in length. The worst road accident in the UK was a coach crash near Grassington, in Yorkshire in 1975, in which 33 people were killed. The worst traffic jam in the UK occurred on 4 August 2017 on the M5 Northbound by Junction 20. Traffic tailed back 35 miles and the jam lasted 15 hours.
S
Schools - the oldest school in Britain is believed to be The King's School in Canterbury, Kent founded in the 6th century. The largest school in the UK is Nottingham Academy. The largest elementary school is Gascoigne Primary School in Barking with 1,282 pupils. Eton College is now the biggest boarding school in the UK.
Sculpture - ArcelorMittal Orbit, originally called simply "Orbit", the ArcelorMittal Orbit is the tallest sculpture in the UK, an observation tower, and home to the longest tunnel slide in the world.
Serial Killer - Harold Frederick Shipman (1946-2004), was a GP in Hyde, Greater Manchester, and was believed to have been responsible for the deaths of up to 260 people. Also in Manchester Indonesian national Reynhard Sinaga is believed to have raped or sexually assaulted around 206 men making him Britain's worst serial rapist.
Shopping - Swindon Designer Outlet is Europe's largest indoor designer outlet. It occupies the restored Great Western railway works in Swindon.
Smallest chapel - the smallest chapel in Britain is St. Trillo's Chapel, located on the seafront in Rhos-on-Sea on the coast of North Wales.
Smallest county - the smallest historic county in England is Rutland with a total area of 382 square km (147.4 square miles).
South - Lizard Point in Cornwall is the most southerly point in mainland Great Britain. The southernmost point in the UK is uninhabited Pednathise Head in the Scilly Islands.
Stained Glass - The Presbytery of Gloucester Cathedral features the Great East Window which was the largest window in the world when it was installed and is still the largest stained glass window in England. The window dates from around 1350.
Stations - King's Cross Station in London was the largest station in Britain when it opened in 1852. Britain's busiest station now Liverpool Street Station ahead of Paddington and Waterloo also in London. Glasgow Central was the most used station in Scotland with Cardiff Central top in Wales.Canary Wharf Tube Station in Canary Wharf, London designed by Norman Foster is the busiest station on a single tube line. Also on the tube, the distance between Covent Garden Station and Leicester Square is only 260 metres, the shortest on the network. The Snowdon Mountain Railway has Britain's highest station, perched just below Snowdon's summit in North Wales. The oldest surviving passenger railway station in the world is Liverpool Road Station now preserved at the Science & Industry Museum in Manchester. The Liverpool and Manchester Railway was the world's first steam-powered, inter-city railway and opened in 1830.
Statues - The Kelpies near Falkirk, Scotland by artist Andy Scott is the tallest statue in the UK at 30 meters. The oldest statue in London is thought to be that of King Alfred the Great in Trinity Church Square, Southwark.
Strike - the longest strike in Britain was the Burston Strike School from 1914 to 1939 in the village of Burston in Norfolk.
Supermarket - Tesco is the largest supermarket chain in Britain.
Surname - Smith is the UK's most common surname.
T
Theatre - the oldest theatre in Britain is the Bristol Old Vic in Bristol. It opened as the Theatre Royal in 1766. The Royal Albert Hall is London's largest traditional theatre.
Town Hall - Exeter Guildhall on the High Street in Exeter in Devon is said to be the "oldest municipal building in England still in use."
Train - Puffing Billy is the world's oldest surviving steam locomotive having been built in 1813-1814. It is on display at the Science Museum in London.
U
Underground Line - at 54.9 km the Central Line is the longest line on the London tube network. The shortest is the Waterloo & City Line just 2.37 km (1.47 miles) long between Waterloo and Bank stations. King's Cross St Pancras is the busiest station. Baker Street is the oldest tube station in London still in operation today.
University - the oldest university in Britain is Oxford University in Oxford. It dates from 1096 and is the second-oldest university in the western world. King's College London is the oldest college in London, chartered in 1829.
V
V&A - the Victoria and Albert Museum is the world's largest museum of applied and decorative arts and design, with a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects.
Viaduct - Ballochmyle Viaduct is the highest railway viaduct in Britain. It is 52 meters high (169 feet). It carries the railway over the River Ayr in East Ayrshire, Scotland. Welland Viaduct in England is the longest masonry viaduct in Britain at 1.166 km. Bennerley Viaduct in Nottinghamshire is the longest Victorian, wrought-iron viaduct in Britain at 443 meters. The shorter Meldon Viaduct in Devon is the only other wrought-iron viaduct left standing in the country.
Victoria Cross - the only man to have ever won two Victoria Crosses for bravery is Charles Hazlitt Upham from New Zealand during World War II.
W
Walls - Hadrian's Wall is the longest wall in the world that survives from the Roman period.
Waterfalls - the highest waterfall in Britain is Eas a' Chual Aluinn in Scotland at 200 meters in height. With a drop of 240ft (80 meters), Pistyll Rhaeadr in Wales is Britain's tallest single-drop waterfall.
West - Ardnamurchan Point on the Ardnamurchan Peninsula in Scotland is the most westerly point on the British mainland.
Wheel - the 22-meter diameter Great Laxey Wheel on the Isle of Man was raised in 1854 to pump water from a lead and copper mine. It is the largest of its type in the world and made mostly of wood with iron parts. The Falkirk Wheel is the only rotating boat lift of its type in the world. It was designed by Tony Kettle then of the RMJM group of architects founded in Edinburgh. It stands with the Glenfinnan Viaduct and the Forth Bridge as outstanding examples of Scottish architecture. Quarry Bank Mill in Styal, Cheshire is home to the most powerful working waterwheel in Europe
Wimbledon - quite simply the highlight of the global tennis calendar, Wimbledon is also the oldest tennis tournament in the world, having been held at the All England Club in London since 1877. Wimbledon is the only Major tournament now played on grass, the game's original surface, which gave the game its original name of "lawn tennis". The Wimbledon tournament takes place over two weeks in late June and early July, culminating with the Ladies' and Gentlemen's Singles Final.
Windsor - Windsor Castle has the distinction of being the largest occupied castle in the world as well as being the longest occupied palace in Europe.
X
X-ray - the first x-rays in Britain were taken in 1896.
Y
Youngest Player for England - in football Theo Walcott made his debut as a substitute against Hungary in 2006 aged 17 years and 75 days. In cricket Brian Close played against New Zealand at Old Trafford in 1949 aged 18 years and 149 days.
Z
Zoo - the oldest zoo in England is London Zoo which began in 1828. In fact, it is the world's oldest scientific zoo.
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