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England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south. The country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain, which lies in the North Atlantic, and includes over 100 smaller islands, such as the Isles of Scilly and the Isle of Wight.
The area now called England was first inhabited by modern humans during the Upper Paleolithic period, but takes its name from the Angles, a Germanic tribe deriving its name from the Anglia peninsula, who settled during the 5th and 6th centuries. England became a unified state in the 10th century and has had a significant cultural and legal impact on the wider world since the Age of Discovery, which began during the 15th century. The English language, the Anglican Church, and English law—the basis for the common law legal systems of many other countries around the world—developed in England, and the country's parliamentary system of government has been widely adopted by other nations. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the world's first industrialised nation.
England's terrain is chiefly low hills and plains, especially in central and southern England. However, there is upland and mountainous terrain in the north (for example, the Lake District and Pennines) and in the west (for example, Dartmoor and the Shropshire Hills). The capital is London, which has the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom. England's population of 56.3 million comprises 84% of the population of the United Kingdom, largely concentrated around London, the South East, and conurbations in the Midlands, the North West, the North East, and Yorkshire, which each developed as major industrial regions during the 19th century.
The Kingdom of England – which after 1535 included Wales – ceased being a separate sovereign state on 1 May 1707, when the Acts of Union put into effect the terms agreed in the Treaty of Union the previous year, resulting in a political union with the Kingdom of Scotland to create the Kingdom of Great Britain. In 1801, Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland (through another Act of Union) to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922 the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom, leading to the latter being renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. (Full article...)
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The Tunnel Railway (also known as the Ramsgate Cliff Railway, the Ramsgate Tunnel Railway, the Ramsgate Underground Railway and the World Scenic Railway) was a 2 ft (610 mm) narrow-gauge underground railway in Ramsgate, Kent, England. Following the restructuring of railway lines in Ramsgate in 1926, the section of line between Broadstairs and Ramsgate Harbour including a tunnel to the seafront at Ramsgate was abandoned. The narrow-gauge Tunnel Railway was opened within the disused tunnel in 1936 to connect tourist attractions and shops near Ramsgate harbour with the new railway main line at Dumpton Park.
Except for its two stations—one at each end of the tunnel—the line ran entirely underground. The line was built in less than three months, and on its completion in 1936 was one of the shortest independent railway lines in the country. It was open for only three years before being converted to a major air-raid shelter during World War II. After the war's end, it was not included in the 1948 nationalisation of British railways but remained in private hands. (Full article...)Selected article -
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Isambard Kingdom Brunel FRS MInstCE (/ˈɪzəmbɑːrd bruːˈnɛl/; 9 April 1806 – 15 September 1859) was an English civil engineer who is considered "one of the most ingenious and prolific figures in engineering history," "one of the 19th-century engineering giants," and "one of the greatest figures of the Industrial Revolution, [who] changed the face of the English landscape with his groundbreaking designs and ingenious constructions." Brunel built dockyards, the Great Western Railway (GWR), a series of steamships including the first propeller-driven transatlantic steamship, and numerous important bridges and tunnels. His designs revolutionised public transport and modern engineering.
Though Brunel's projects were not always successful, they often contained innovative solutions to long-standing engineering problems. During his career, Brunel achieved many engineering firsts, including assisting in the building of the first tunnel under a navigable river (the River Thames) and the development of the SS Great Britain, the first propeller-driven, ocean-going iron ship, which, when launched in 1843, was the largest ship ever built. (Full article...)General images
Large miniature of George Clifford, 3rd Earl of Cumberland by Nicholas Hilliard, c. 1590, after his appointment as the Queen's Champion, in tilting attire with the Queen's glove as her favour pinned to his hat. (from Culture of England)
King's College in Cambridge is regarded as one of the greatest examples of late English Gothic architecture. It has the world's largest fan vault, while the chapel's stained-glass windows and wooden chancel screen are considered some of the finest from their era. (from Culture of England)
The Royal College of Music is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London. (from Culture of England)
The Staffordshire Hoard is the largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold and silver metalwork yet found[update]. It consists of almost 4,600 items and metal fragments. (from Culture of England)
The Roman Baths in Bath; a temple was constructed on the site between 60–70CE in the first few decades of Roman Britain. It is a lasting monument from Roman Britain. (from Culture of England)
King Charles II, a patron of the arts and sciences, supported the Royal Society, a scientific group whose early members included Robert Hooke, Robert Boyle and Sir Isaac Newton. (from Culture of England)
Flatford Mill ('Scene on a Navigable River') by John Constable, c1816 (from Culture of England)
Elizabeth I (from History of England)
The Billingsgate Fish Market in London in the early 19th century (from History of England)
The wizard Merlin features as a character in many works of fiction, including the BBC series Merlin. (from Culture of England)
The Lindisfarne Gospels (from Culture of England)
Portrait of Edward VI, c. 1550 (from History of England)
Francis Bacon in a portrait by Pourbus the Younger, (1617). His works are seen as developing the scientific method and remained highly influential through the Scientific revolution. (from Culture of England)
Procession of characters from Shakespeare's plays. (from Culture of England)
England playing Australia at Lord's Cricket Ground in the 2009 Ashes series. After winning the 2019 Cricket World Cup, England became the first country to win the World Cups in football, rugby union and cricket. (from Culture of England)
Chester, c. 1880 (from History of England)
Sir Isaac Newton, 1689. Regarded as one of the most influential scientists of all time and as a key figure in the Scientific Revolution. (from Culture of England)
King Alfred the Great statue in Winchester, Hampshire. The 9th-century English king encouraged education in his kingdom, and proposed that primary education be taught in English, with those wishing to advance to holy orders to continue their studies in Latin. (from Culture of England)
The Lady Chapel of Wells Cathedral (from Culture of England)
National performing arts are held annually at the Royal Albert Hall, as well as The Proms during the summer. (from Culture of England)
The Great Fire London, 1666. (from History of England)
Roman Empire, 3rd century. (from History of England)
Durham Cathedral, dating from 1093. (from Culture of England)
The rune stone U 344 was raised in memory of a Viking who went to England three times. (from History of England)
Christopher Lee (seen here as Dracula in 1958) starred in many of Hammer's British horror films. (from Culture of England)
A traditional Punch and Judy booth, at Swanage, Dorset, England. (from Culture of England)
Landing of the Romans on the Coast of Kent (Cassell's History of England, Vol. I – anonymous author and artists, 1909) (from History of England)
Sir Francis Drake's voyage 1585–86 (from History of England)
The first general laws against child labour, the Factory Acts, were passed in Britain in the first half of the 19th century. Children younger than nine were not allowed to work and the work day of youth under the age of 18 was limited to twelve hours. (from History of England)
View of the ramparts of the developed hillfort of Maiden Castle, Dorset, as they look today (from History of England)
Alfred Hitchcock is often regarded as the greatest British filmmaker, and was described as "a straightforward middle-class Englishman who just happened to be an artistic genius." (from Culture of England)
First played in 1877, the Wimbledon Championships is the oldest tennis tournament in the world. (from Culture of England)
Pope Gregory I seeing Anglo-Saxon children in a slave market in Rome. He sent Augustine as a missionary to England in 596. (from History of England)
Depiction of the Battle of Hastings (1066) on the Bayeux Tapestry (from History of England)
Silver brooch imitating a coin of Edward the Elder, c. 920, found in Rome, Italy. British Museum (from History of England)
Charles Dickens' 1843 novella A Christmas Carol played a major role in reviving the "spirit" of Christmas and seasonal goodwill (from Culture of England)
William Hogarth's depiction of a scene from Shakespeare's The Tempest is an example of how English literature influenced English painting in the 18th century. (from Culture of England)
England in 878 (from History of England)
Countries where English has official status or is widely spoken (from Culture of England)
The Procession Picture, c. 1600, showing Elizabeth I borne along by her courtiers (from History of England)
The English landscape garden at Stourhead, described as a 'living work of art' when first opened in the 1750s (from Culture of England)
Canterbury Cathedral is the seat of the Primate of All England, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the most senior bishop of the Church of England (it was the property of the Roman Catholic Church before the English Reformation) (from Culture of England)
King Charles I, who was beheaded in 1649 (from History of England)
Kingdoms and tribes in Britain, c. AD 600 (from History of England)
Maps of territory held by Royalists (red) and Parliamentarians (green) during the English Civil War (1642–1645) (from History of England)
One of only four surviving exemplifications of the 1215 text, Cotton MS. Augustus II. 106, property of the British Library (from History of England)
Victory in Europe Day celebrations in London, 8 May 1945 (from History of England)
Edward Elgar is one of England's most celebrated classical composers. (from Culture of England)
King Henry VIII (from History of England)
A pint of real ale (from Culture of England)
First English Civil War at the Battle of Marston Moor, 1644 (from History of England)
Stonehenge, erected in several stages from c.3000-1500BC (from History of England)
Caesar's first invasion of Britain (from History of England)
Hampton Court Palace (from Culture of England)
The Spanish Armada and English ships in August 1588, (unknown, 16th-century, English School) (from History of England)
Astley's Amphitheatre, London circa 1808. Astley performed stunts in a 42 ft diameter ring; the standard size used by circuses ever since. (from Culture of England)
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The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900.
The Gallery is an exempt charity, and a non-departmental public body of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. Its collection belongs to the government on behalf of the British public, and entry to the main collection is free of charge. In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic it attracted only 1,197,143 visitors, a drop of 50 per cent from 2019, but it still ranked eighth on the list of most-visited art museums in the world. (Full article...)Did you know?
- ...that the Rev. Arthur Wagner, the first curate of the Church of St. Paul, Brighton, England, commissioned stained glass windows of his mother, father and aunt for the church?
- ...that Scots' Dike was constructed by the English and the Scots in 1552 to mark the division of the Debatable Lands and thereby settle the exact boundary between the kingdoms of Scotland and England?
- ...that the famed message "England expects that every man will do his duty" is misquoted on Nelson's Column in London?
In the news
- 13 January 2022 – COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in England
- British health secretary Sajid Javid announces that the self-isolation period for positive COVID-19 patients in England will be reduced to five days in order to reduce the impact of absences caused by the Omicron variant on businesses and the health sector. This change will take effect on January 17. (Financial Times)
- 10 January 2022 – 2022 East London floods
- Ten people are killed and hundreds more are left homeless due to floods in East London, South Africa, as poorly built homes are swept away, especially in Mdantsane just outside the city. (Reuters)
- 1 January 2022 – COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in England
- England reports a record 162,572 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours. (The Independent)
- 30 December 2021 – Crime in London
- A 16-year-old boy is stabbed to death in Hillingdon, west London, making him the 30th teenage homicide in the British capital in 2021. It is now the deadliest year on record for killings of teenagers, surpassing a previous peak of 29 homicides in 2008. (BBC News)
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