For the first time in more than 500 years, the two separated halves of Tintagel Castle will be reunited thanks to a daring new £5m footbridge unveiled by English Heritage, allowing visitors to walk in the footsteps of the medieval inhabitants of the Cornish castle – inextricably linked with the legend of King Arthur – and enjoy spectacular coastal views not seen since the Middle Ages. Spanning a 190-foot gorge and with a gasp-inducing gap in the middle, the bridge follows the line of the original route – a narrow strip of land, long lost to erosion – between the 13th-century gatehouse on the mainland and the courtyard on the jagged headland or island jutting into the sea. So significant was this historic crossing that it gave rise to the place’s name, the Cornish Din Tagell meaning “the Fortress of the Narrow Entrance”.

► english-heritage.org.uk/tintagel

* Image: The new footbridge at Tintagel Castle, Cornwall. Photograph by David Levene