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Ruins: Discover Britain's Wild and Beautiful Places
A celebration of Britain's most wild and wonderfully atmospheric places: its ruins, including castles, follies, abbeys, and country houses.
From romantic ruined castles to mysterious stone circles, from frivolous follies to crumbling towers by the sea, there is something about ruins that excites our imagination--and the National Trust has many of the best examples in Britain.
Featuring more than 50 captivating sites, this is a superbly illustrated celebration of these wild and wonderfully atmospheric places across the country, dating from Roman times to the 20th century. From Cornwall to Scotland, the book is organized by region and includes overview maps, so you can plot your own journey around Britain's remarkable ruins.
From romantic ruined castles to mysterious stone circles, from frivolous follies to crumbling towers by the sea, there is something about ruins that excites our imagination--and the National Trust has many of the best examples in Britain.
Featuring more than 50 captivating sites, this is a superbly illustrated celebration of these wild and wonderfully atmospheric places across the country, dating from Roman times to the 20th century. From Cornwall to Scotland, the book is organized by region and includes overview maps, so you can plot your own journey around Britain's remarkable ruins.
- GenresNonfictionHistory
176 pages, Hardcover
Published March 7, 2019
2 people are currently reading
32 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
April 2, 2022
I bought this beautiful book whilst on my travels at another National Trust building. I'm sure I own the majority of The National Trust coffee table books at this point, but let me tell you, I'll always make room for more.
I adore these books, and they make for an excellent companion in times of hardship, even if you're not able to actually get out there and visit these spectacular ruins, it's pretty great just having the photography to savour and admire.
I suppose my only complaint is that I would have loved more information on these ruins, instead of a skimpy description, but again, the photographs make up for this quibble of mine.
When all is well again in my neck of the woods, I've promised myself, that I will get my behind back out there to explore, hopefully even one or two of the ruins in this book.
I adore these books, and they make for an excellent companion in times of hardship, even if you're not able to actually get out there and visit these spectacular ruins, it's pretty great just having the photography to savour and admire.
I suppose my only complaint is that I would have loved more information on these ruins, instead of a skimpy description, but again, the photographs make up for this quibble of mine.
When all is well again in my neck of the woods, I've promised myself, that I will get my behind back out there to explore, hopefully even one or two of the ruins in this book.
March 3, 2024
A wonderful exploration of some of the ruined castles, palaces and strongholds that can be found around the British Isles. This book gives a fairly brief but interesting description of the history of each one accompanied by some stunning photos.
December 31, 2022
Quality Rating: Three Stars
Enjoyment Rating: Four Stars
This is a fun, beautifully photographed, but ultimately unimaginative look at some of the UK's ruined castles and houses. Each entry is pretty concise, and focuses on a whistle-spot tour of the ownership of the now-decayed buildings, whereas I would've been more interested to hear about its architecture, the circumstances of its creation, and the reasons for its styles. The book does touch on this occasionally and has some interesting anecdotes about various occupants or visitors, still it boils down to a line of rich people exchanging, selling, bargaining or losing properties to other wealthy people - which is absolutely history, but I would've liked to know more about the ruins themselves than just who owned them. More photographs too please! And maps!
Enjoyment Rating: Four Stars
This is a fun, beautifully photographed, but ultimately unimaginative look at some of the UK's ruined castles and houses. Each entry is pretty concise, and focuses on a whistle-spot tour of the ownership of the now-decayed buildings, whereas I would've been more interested to hear about its architecture, the circumstances of its creation, and the reasons for its styles. The book does touch on this occasionally and has some interesting anecdotes about various occupants or visitors, still it boils down to a line of rich people exchanging, selling, bargaining or losing properties to other wealthy people - which is absolutely history, but I would've liked to know more about the ruins themselves than just who owned them. More photographs too please! And maps!
April 23, 2020
One of those coffee table books you buy on-site in a heady flush of stately-home love, and then wonder why when you get home. This one is actually nicely written. The descriptions of the ruins, while slightly formulaic in approach, are often funny as well as informative. The photography is lovely.
November 24, 2021
Interesting reading with beautiful photographs throughout.
January 8, 2023
Beautiful photos but a shocking lack of proof-reading.
August 18, 2019
The photos are brilliant. Taken alone, those will inspire many visits to these sites. I’ve already added half a dozen to my next itinerary.
Each of the dozens of sites has an accompanying narrative history of a page or three, often recounting how man’s greed, envy, and lust to accumulate power led to these incredible properties becoming the romantic ruins we see today.
The National Trust does a splendid job looking after many of these properties (as do the respective historic property charities in the four countries of the U.K.), and this very high quality coffee-table book befits the good work they do.
Each of the dozens of sites has an accompanying narrative history of a page or three, often recounting how man’s greed, envy, and lust to accumulate power led to these incredible properties becoming the romantic ruins we see today.
The National Trust does a splendid job looking after many of these properties (as do the respective historic property charities in the four countries of the U.K.), and this very high quality coffee-table book befits the good work they do.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews