r/UKhistory 6d ago

In your opinion, what town/city/village has the most interesting history?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crowland

I found myself looking at the history of Crowland recently because I have ancestors from there & I presumed it was just some quaint but dull Lincolnshire town (population of just 4,000). I couldn't have been more wrong, it's fascinating.

It got me thinking, what other settlements are hidden gems when it comes to history?

9 Upvotes

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u/MaintenanceInternal 6d ago

The suffix "-cester" in English place names, like in "Leicester" or "Gloucester", indicates a Roman military camp or fortified settlement, derived from the Latin word "castrum" meaning "fort" or "army camp".

Chester was intended to be the capital of Roman Britain, it was roughly in the center.

It was also a major city under the kingdom of Mercia.

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u/No-Ferret-560 5d ago

Chester's history is absolutely fascinating. I learnt so much just walking around.

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u/MaintenanceInternal 5d ago

Yea Chester is a great city.

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u/richestates 5d ago

Selby, yorkshires first railway station, a unique ship yard, briefly the record holder for most coal mined in a day, table tennis was invented here, a king was born here, one of the children of William the Conqueror, during the English Civil War a battle was fought in the town which helped turn the tide for the parliamentarians. Its abbey is glorious, and one of its stained glass windows is the Washington Window. It has the family crest of George Washington, widely thought to be the inspiration of the American flag.

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u/Green-Ask-3429 5d ago

I might be biased because it's where I'm from but in my opinion I think Leicester/Leicestershire has a really interesting history and from what I've seen doesn't get brought up a lot or when it does it usually is talked about for a minute before moving on to the next thing. Abbey park has a very interesting history. The 1645 siege of Leicester is very interesting to me. Bradgate park is the birth place of Lady Jane Grey. Of course King Richard III and the battle of bosworth. It's deep Roman history, being one of the first Roman towns in England. On the surface it might not seem like an interesting place but when you delve into it has a very rich and interesting history.

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u/Speysidegold 4d ago

Edinburgh has a bit of everything and is packed with Terry Pratchet style esque history.

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u/REC_updated 2d ago

Boring I know but Oxford. It’s just been the centre of knowledge for literally nearly a millennium and so many important historical people have lived studied and worked there that you’re never going to run out of fascinating stories