Sign up to our newsletter for daily updates and breaking news Sign up here! Thank you for subscribing See our privacy notice Invalid Email

A vertical spinning tunnel for testing aerodynamics, two 19th century shipwrecks and a building used as a Monty Python set are some of the unusual heritage sites to receive protected status this year.

Government heritage agency Historic England has revealed a list of 21 unusual buildings and sites to have been given new or enhanced protected status in 2019.

(Image: MOLA/Historic England/PA Wire)

They are drawn from more than 500 historic places which have been added to the National Heritage List for England in 2019, along with new scheduled monuments, parks and gardens and protected wrecks.

They include the remains of the Curtain playhouse, built in Shoreditch in 1577 and where Romeo and Juliet was staged during Shakespeare's lifetime, which was discovered in recent excavations.

(Image: Chris Redgrave/Historic England/PA Wire)

The Porchester Centre in Bayswater, London, where the Mr Creosote sketch in Monty Python's The Meaning of Life was filmed in 1982, has been upgraded to Grade II*.

First World War training trenches in Kent and Second World War practice bombing range indicator - a large concrete arrow in the ground - and observation post in North Devon have also been protected this year.

An early telephone kiosk now in a field, a pedestrian tunnel for nursemaids to take children to the park avoiding a busy 19th century road and 18th century direction markers are also on the list of the top 21 unusual heritage sites highlighted.

Duncan Wilson, chief executive of Historic England said: "By celebrating the extraordinary historic places which surround us, above and below ground, we hope to inspire in people a greater interest in our shared heritage, and a commitment to pass it on."

Unusual heritage listings in 2019

Former chemist shop, High Street, Lowestoft, Suffolk

(Image: Patricia Payne/Historic England/PA Wire)

A rare survival of a mid-Victorian chemist shop with an Italianate shopfront, this has been listed at Grade II.

Lych gate and coffin rest, Church of St Michael and All Angels, Brampton Abbotts, Herefordshire

(Image: James O. Davies/Historic England/PA Wire)

The ornamental gateway into the churchyard of the Grade II*-listed church and the coffin rest date from 1931 and were designed in an Arts and Crafts Gothic style. They are listed at Grade II.

The Curtain Playhouse, Shoreditch, London

(Image: MOLA/Historic England/PA Wire)

Remains of the Elizabethan theatre and where Romeo and Juliet was staged during Shakespeare's lifetime have been made a scheduled monument after being discovered in excavations from 2011-2016.

The Porchester Centre in Bayswater, London

(Image: Chris Redgrave/Historic England/PA Wire)

This unusually elaborate civic building from the 1920s, with a rare Turkish bath complex and an opulent main hall that featured in Monty Python's The Meaning of Life, with the Mr Creosote sketch filmed here in 1982, has been upgraded from Grade II to Grade II*.

The vertical spinning tunnel, Bedfordshire

(Image: James O. Davies/Historic England/PA Wire)

This one-of-a-kind structure built between 1948 and 1955 to investigate aerodynamics and flight systems has been listed at Grade II.

The Nursemaid's Tunnel, Regent's Park, London

(Image: Chris Redgrave/Historic England/PA Wire)

One of the earliest surviving pedestrian subways in London, the tunnel was built in 1821 to go under the busy road which was considered dangerous, especially to children taken to the park by a nursemaid, and has been listed Grade II.

Piazza Fountain, Beetham Plaza, Liverpool

(Image: Alun Bull/Historic England/PA Wire)

Known locally as the Bucket Fountain, this kinetic water sculpture was made in the late 1980s by Welsh fountain designer Richard Haws and has been listed as Grade II.

Church House Farm, Wellington, Herefordshire

(Image: James O. Davies/Historic England/PA Wire)

The 18th century house was first listed in 1985 at Grade II, and was thought to have earlier origins, which have now been revealed due to recent renovation work, including rare and surprisingly intact scheme of decorative wall paintings. It has been upgraded to Grade II*.

Second World War practice bombing range indicator and observation post, Putsborough Sands, North Devon

(Image: Steven Baker/Historic England/PA Wire)

This concrete arrow and post are the only two survivors of their kind in Devon, where the north coast was one of the major training centres for the Allies in the run-up to D-Day, and have been listed at Grade II.

The Seagull shipwreck, off Hornsey Gap, Norfolk

(Image: Historic England/PA Wire)

A rare early example of a sail-assisted paddle-steamer which sank in a collision in 1868 while on route from Hull to Rotterdam carrying a cargo of raw cotton. The Seagull has been made a scheduled monument.

The Xanthe shipwreck, off Hornsey Gap, Norfolk

(Image: Wessex Archaeology/Historic England/PA Wire)

This sail-assisted steam-powered cargo ship sank in a collision near Great Yarmouth, the year after the Seagull, and has been made a scheduled monument.

Sandford Parks Lido, Gloucestershire

(Image: James O. Davies/Historic England/PA Wire)

A remarkably intact example of a 1930s lido in the Arts and Crafts style and has been listed at Grade II.

First World War practice trenches, Tolsford Hill, Saltwood, Kent

These well-preserved trenches, which were developed to build strength and resilience in new recruits, were constructed around 1914 and are now filled in and have been made a scheduled monument.

The Pearl Centre, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire

(Image: Damian Grady/Historic England/PA Wire)

The centre is part of Lynch Wood Business Park and is a striking post-modern building sitting within a bespoke landscape which has been listed as a Grade II listed building and Grade II registered park and garden.

Birmingham Children's Hospital, Steelhouse Lane, Birmingham

(Image: James O. Davies/Historic England/PA Wire)

The hospital, which was built between 1893 and 1897 as the city's general hospital, on a grand scale and laid out on a pavilion plan, has been listed at Grade II.

Cabmen's shelter, Northumberland Avenue, London

(Image: Chris Redgrave/Historic England/PA Wire)

This shelter, built in 1915, is one of 13 examples to survive in London and relates to the operation of horse-drawn hansom cabs in the capital, though it now is used for taxi drivers. It has been listed at Grade II.

Fountains in Promenade Gardens, St Anne's-on-Sea, Lancashire

(Image: Alun Bull/Historic England/PA Wire)

This colourful two-tiered spray fountain, which is decorated with pelicans and cherubic children or "putto", and a drinking fountain, which is richly decorated with birds and flowers, date from around 1900 and have been listed at Grade II.

K1 telephone kiosk, Newsholme Deam, near Keighley, West Yorkshire

(Image: Historic England/PA Wire)

Few examples of Britain's first national telephone kiosk remain, and this one is located alongside the weir at Dean Beck, in a field at Newsholme Dean and used as housing for water-flow measuring equipment. It has been listed at Grade II.

South Australian shipwreck, Bristol Channel

(Image: Historic England/PA Wire)

A clipper ship that sailed annually between London and the state of South Australia for about 20 years carrying heavy goods such as coal and large construction materials, it sank in 1889 but has been made a scheduled monument.

The Chapel of Rest, Brompton-by-Sawdon, North Yorkshire

(Image: Alun Bull/Historic England/PA Wire)

This small chapel, built in 1889 to serve the rural community, is an important early work by English architect Temple Lushington Moore, who went on to become one of the country's leading church architects of the Victorian period. It has been listed at Grade II.

Direction stones near Middle Chinnock, Somerset

(Image: Steven Baker/Historic England/PA Wire)

These stones, located to the north and the south of the village at the road junctions between Crewkerne and Yeovil, are artistically carved with cuffed pointing hands and are good examples of mid 18th century direction markers. They have been listed at Grade II.