Coventry Cathedral, the Angel of the North, Tate Modern and Sutton Hoo, the site of strange grassy mounds that revealed some of the greatest Anglo-Saxon treasures ever found, have all been named in a new top 10 of heritage sites.

Historic England announced the list as part of a campaigning project called Irreplaceable: a History of England in 100 Places. It is broken down into various categories, with the 10 places for art, architecture and sculpture.



All 10 have been selected by the BBC’s arts editor, Will Gompertz, from hundreds of nominations submitted by the public. There are two cathedrals on the list: St Paul’s in London and the Basil Spence-designed Coventry Cathedral, which was consecrated in 1962. The latter was a replacement for its 14th-century predecessor, which was destroyed by Luftwaffe bombs in 1940.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Angel of the North was completed by Antony Gormley in 1998 Photograph: James O Davies/Historic England/PA

Gompertz called Coventry Cathedral “a magnificent, optimistic and bold response to the horrors of war”. He said: “To create a modern and ambitious building dedicated to spiritual enrichment from the literal ashes of destruction was – and is – a sublime answer to brutality. It is a building born out of love and hope, made from the rubble of hate and despair.”

Sutton Hoo is the oldest place on the list. The burial mounds were first excavated in 1939. They revealed a 27 metre-long wooden ship buried with extraordinary treasures that helped rewrite understanding of the Anglo-Saxons.

The excavated objects are on display at the British Museum and the Sutton Hoo site, looked after by the National Trust. “To look at them is to reach back and see our past made real and vital,” said Gompertz.

The newest place on the list is Tate Modern in London, which opened in 2000. Gompertz, who was director of Tate Media before joining the BBC, said he knew every inch of the building, the former Bankside power station.

“It is a wonderful space to show art and to welcome audiences from across the globe to mingle and learn together,” he said. “It breathed new life into a rundown part of London and introduced the world to a new way of showing and enjoying art.”

The other galleries on the list are the Barbara Hepworth museum and sculpture park in St Ives and Yorkshire Sculpture Park near Wakefield, praised by Gompertz as “without doubt, one of the finest examples of art in the landscape anywhere in the world”.

Antony Gormley’s Angel of the North overlooking the A1 in Gateshead has become a popular national landmark since it was completed in 1998. Gompertz called it a powerful piece of contemporary sculpture that “excites, heralds and provokes”. He said: “It is so far removed from the typical ‘hero on a horse’ statues that are dotted across the country, invisible to all. Gormley’s artwork is as fresh as it is imposing.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The outdoor Minack theatre in Penzance, Cornwall Photograph: Phil Jackson/Historic England/PA

Completing the new top 10 are Kelmscott Manor in Oxfordshire, once the country home of William Morris; Chatsworth House in Derbyshire, one of England’s grandest stately homes; and the Minack theatre in Cornwall.

All of the 10 places, chosen to stimulate debate, will be explored in depth in episodes of a podcast series created for the project, free on iTunes and Soundcloud.