UK and Irish sites on threat list

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Six locations in the UK and Ireland have been placed on a list of the world's most endangered heritage sites.

They include Wilton's in London, the world's oldest music hall, and Tara Hill, a sacred landscape near Dublin.

The World Monuments Fund's (WMF's) Watch List for 2008 also contained structures wrecked by the war in Iraq.

Other UK and Irish sites were Mavisbank House, Midlothian; Richhill House, Armagh City; St Peter's College, Argyll and Bute; and Vernon Mount, Cork.

Vandalism and decay

They joined buildings ruined by warfare in Iraq, and New Orleans, Louisiana, which was battered by Hurricane Katrina.

Just four countries had more sites on the 100-strong list than the UK - the US with seven, Peru with six and India and Turkey with five each.

Just as we caused the damage in the first place, we have the power to repair it Bonnie BurnhamWMF President

Wilton's Music Hall, in Tower Hamlets, east London, is believed to be the last remaining example of a mid-Victorian music hall in the capital, the WMF said.

St Peter's College, in Cardross, Argyll and Bute, was named by the architecture magazine Prospect as Scotland's greatest post-Second World War building, but it has been blighted by vandalism and decay.

Neo-classical Mavisbank House in Midlothian was partially destroyed by fire in 1973 and left to ruin.

Richhill House in County Armagh, a Renaissance-style 17th century building, has also fallen into disrepair.

Tara Hill in Meath was once the seat of Ireland's high kings

Tara Hill, which is threatened by a motorway designed to ease the commute to Dublin, was described as the list's "biggest advocacy challenge".

The WMF said Vernon Mount, a neo-classical villa in Cork, is "arguably the finest example of this building form to survive in the country, where politically-motivated destruction of country houses was once commonplace".

Bonnie Burnham, WMF President, said: "On this list, man is indeed the real enemy.

"But, just as we caused the damage in the first place, we have the power to repair it, by taking our responsibility as caretakers of the world's cultural heritage seriously."

Climate change was named as a force which threatened the world's monuments for the first time.

Sites were chosen by a group of experts from nominations, submitted by governments, conservationists and others.