UK World Heritage Sites

A full list of the World Heritage Sites in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland can be found on the UNESCO State Parties website

Five of these monuments represent a period in which Britain held centre-stage as the world’s first industrial nation. The Derwent Valley Mills is part of this sub group of industrial sites as are Ironbridge Gorge, Blaenavon Industrial Landscape, New Lanark and Saltaire.

The Derwent Valley Mills is the only site to be located within the East Midlands Region.

World Heritage UK

World Heritage UK (WHUK) brings together the World Heritage Sites in the UK. Its mission is to raise the profile and secure the future of all sites within the UK by advocating for support and resources, promoting the Sites’ values and facilitating training, networking and the sharing of good practice.

World Heritage UK is open to individual members. If you are interested in supporting it visit www.worldheritageuk.org.

UK UNESCO Sites

From expansive mountain ranges and stunning coastlines to vibrant cities and rural landscapes – the UK’s UNESCO sites are destinations of world-class natural and cultural heritage.

This map, designed by the creative cartographer Tom Woolley, brings together all of the Biosphere Reserves, Creative Cities, Global Geoparks and World Heritage Sites across the British Isles that are waiting to be discovered.

To download the map click here

In the map below there is also the chance to focus on the central area of the UK to see what UNESCO sites there are near to the DVMWHS.

Mill-related World Heritage outside the UK

Verla World Heritage Site, Finland: Verla was added to the World Heritage List in 1996 on the basis that the Verla Groundwood and Board Mill and its associated habitation are an outstanding and remarkably well-preserved example of the small-scale rural industrial settlement associated with pulp and board production that flourished in northern Europe and North America in the 19th and early 20th centuries, of which only a handful survive to the present day. As in the Derwent Valley, waterpower was an essential component of the mill’s operation. Find out more about Verla World Heritage Site here.