Shropshire Star

Where Ironbridge and Pontcysyllte Aqueduct rank on national list of best (and worst) World Heritage Sites

Marking World Heritage Day, travel experts at The Telegraph have ranked the UK's 35 World Heritage Sites.

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Aiming to help preserve places of "outstanding universal value", Unesco began creating World Heritage Sites in 1978.

Then, just 12 sites were on the list, including the Galápagos Islands and Yellowstone National Park.

Today there are more than 1,000 sites across 191 countries on what is now the most recognisable and lauded preservation lists.

The UK is home to 31 of them (35 including overseas territories) with two - Ironbridge Gorge and Pontcysyllte Aqueduct - here on home turf.

And marking World Heritage Day on April 18, travel experts at The Telegraph have ranked them all

According to the newspaper, the experts’ ratings "consider the visiting experience, how each site compares with others around the UK and the world, its value for money, the site’s preservation and the heritage it represents".