VisitEngland creates the country’s Hall of Fame

FROM Downton Abbey and Magna Carta to rugby and the Bakewell Pudding, England’s ultimate Hall of Fame has been revealed to celebrate St George’s Day.

The Hall of Fame exhibition opens to the public today – St George’s Day. Running for one week until April 30, the free open-air exhibition is at Observation Point on London’s South Bank.

The search to establish England’s Hall of Fame began in February when the tourist board asked the public to submit their suggestions. A panel of experts has awarded a bronze, silver and gold across six categories, to celebrate the best of what England has brought to the world and what makes the country such a diverse and fascinating place to explore.

England’s ultimate Hall of Fame consists of:

History & Heritage

Bronze – The four surviving original copies of Magna Carta, sealed in 1215 at Runnymede, Surrey, and regarded by historians as the foundation of constitutional liberty in the English-speaking world.

Silver – The smooth lawns and sweeping vistas of England’s landscaping master, Capability Brown.

Gold – Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, the world's oldest industrial complex and a crucial part of England’s naval heritage.

The Great, the Good and the Notorious

Bronze – Banksy, whose original murals can be spotted on a guided tour of Bristol’s street art

Silver – Robin Hood, England's lovable outlaw.

Gold – Founder of the National Trust, Octavia Hill.

Food & Drink

Bronze – The Bakewell Pudding, first made at a local inn in Derbyshire during the 19th century.

Silver – England's oldest working gin distillery in Plymouth.

Gold – The sandwich, an essential part of afternoon tea, which was named in honour of its inventor, John Montagu, the 4th Earl of Sandwich.

Inventions & Discoveries

Bronze – England as the birthplace of the steam locomotive.

Silver – Sir Isaac Newton’s family home at Woolsthorpe Manor in Lincolnshire, where the English physicist and mathematician developed his theory of gravity.

Gold – Isambard Kingdom Brunel's engineering masterpieces in Bristol, including the magnificent Clifton Suspension Bridge and SS Great Britain passenger steamship.

Sport & Leisure

Bronze –The Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race, established in 1829.

Silver – The home of tennis, from Hampton Court Palace in Richmond-upon-Thames, where the sport is thought to have been invented, to Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum

Gold – The incidental birth of modern rugby during a football game at Rugby School in Warwickshire

Culture & Entertainment

Bronze – Glastonbury, the granddaddy of all festivals in Somerset.

Silver –Hampshire’s Highclere Castle, the real-life location of ITV’s hugely successful Downton Abbey.

Gold – The Beatles.

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