Culture of England

The possession of the relics of a popular saint was a source of funds for an individual church, as the faithful made donations and benefices in the hope that they might receive spiritual aid, a blessing or a healing from the presence of the physical remains of the holy person.

In the 18th century, watercolour painting, mostly of landscapes, became an English specialty, with both a buoyant market for professional works, and a large number of amateur painters, many following the popular systems found in the books of Alexander Cozens and others.

Regarded as one of the two most influential cartoonists (the other is Hogarth), Gillray has been referred to as the father of the political cartoon, with his satirical work calling the King (George III), prime ministers and generals to account.

[38] London's British Museum hosts a collection of more than seven million objects[40] is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world, sourced from every continent, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its beginning to the present.

[47] A blue plaque, the oldest historical marker scheme in the world, is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the UK to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person or event.

[54] The period of Old English literature provided the epic poem Beowulf and the fragmentary The Battle of Maldon, the sombre and introspective The Seafarer, The Wanderer, the pious Dream of the Rood, The Order of the World, and the secular prose of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle,[55] along with Christian writings such as Judith, Cædmon's Hymn and hagiographies (biographies of saints).

[62] In response to the Industrial Revolution, agrarian writers sought a way between liberty and tradition; William Cobbett, G. K. Chesterton and Hilaire Belloc were main exponents, while the founder of guild socialism, Arthur Penty, and cooperative movement advocate G. D. H. Cole are somewhat related.

[64] Since then England has continued to produce novelists such as George Orwell, D. H. Lawrence, Virginia Woolf, C. S. Lewis, Enid Blyton, Aldous Huxley, Agatha Christie, Terry Pratchett, J. R. R. Tolkien, and J. K.

[68] In 2003 the BBC carried out a survey entitled The Big Read to find the "nation's best-loved novel" of all time, with works by J. R. R. Tolkien, Jane Austen, Philip Pullman, Douglas Adams and J. K. Rowling making up the top five.

[75] In the 20th century, Benjamin Britten and Michael Tippett emerged as internationally recognised opera composers, and Ralph Vaughan Williams and others collected English folk tunes and adapted them to the concert hall.

The "Fab Four" opened the doors for other acts from England such as The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Cream, The Kinks, The Who, Eric Clapton, David Bowie, Queen, Elton John, The Hollies, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Genesis, Dire Straits, Iron Maiden, The Police to the globe.

Some of England's leading contemporary artists include George Michael, Sting, Seal, Rod Stewart, The Smiths, The Stone Roses, Oasis, Blur, Radiohead, The Cure, Depeche Mode, Coldplay, Def Leppard, Muse, Arctic Monkeys, Adele and Ed Sheeran.

England has had a considerable influence on the history of the cinema, producing some of the greatest actors, directors and motion pictures of all time, including Alfred Hitchcock, Charlie Chaplin, David Lean, Laurence Olivier, Vivien Leigh, John Gielgud, Peter Sellers, Julie Andrews, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Helen Mirren, Kate Winslet and Daniel Day-Lewis.

Horestes (c. 1567), a late "hybrid morality" and one of the earliest examples of an English revenge play, brings together the classical story of Orestes with a Vice from the medieval allegorical tradition, alternating comic, slapstick scenes with serious, tragic ones.

The unsentimental or "hard" comedies of John Dryden, William Wycherley, and George Etherege reflected the atmosphere at Court and celebrated with frankness an aristocratic macho lifestyle of unremitting sexual intrigue and conquest.

The single play that does most to support the charge of obscenity levelled then and now at Restoration comedy is probably Wycherley's masterpiece The Country Wife (1675), whose title contains a lewd pun and whose notorious "china scene" is a series of sustained double entendres.

Vanbrugh's The Provoked Wife (1697) has a light touch and more humanly recognisable characters, while The Relapse (1696) has been admired for its throwaway wit and the characterisation of Lord Foppington, an extravagant and affected burlesque fop with a dark side.

[20][106] As an equestrian master Astley had a skill for trick horse-riding, and when he added tumblers, tightrope-walkers, jugglers, performing dogs, and a clown to fill time between his own demonstrations – the modern circus was born.

In 19th century England it acquired its present form, which includes songs, slapstick comedy and dancing, employing gender-crossing actors, combining topical humour with a story loosely based on a well-known fairy tale.

English performers who honed their skills at pantomime and music hall sketches include Charlie Chaplin, Stan Laurel, George Formby, Gracie Fields, Dan Leno, Gertrude Lawrence and Harry Champion.

While many legends and folk-customs are thought to be ancient, for instance the tales featuring Offa of Angel and Wayland the Smith,[270] others date from after the Norman conquest of England: Robin Hood and his Merry Men of Sherwood and their battles with the Sheriff of Nottingham are perhaps the best known.

Through newspapers, books, the telegraph, the telephone, phonograph records, radio, satellite television, broadcasters (such as the BBC) and the Internet, as well as the emergence of the United States as a global superpower, Modern English has become the international language of business, science, communication, sports, aviation, and diplomacy.

The jurist Albert Venn Dicey wrote that the British Habeas Corpus Acts "declare no principle and define no rights, but they are for practical purposes worth a hundred constitutional articles guaranteeing individual liberty".

Prominent English figures from the field of science and mathematics include Isaac Newton, Michael Faraday, Charles Darwin, Robert Hooke, James Prescott Joule, John Dalton, Lord Rayleigh, J. J. Thomson, James Chadwick, Charles Babbage, George Boole, Alan Turing, Tim Berners-Lee, Paul Dirac, Stephen Hawking, Peter Higgs, Roger Penrose, John Horton Conway, Thomas Bayes, Arthur Cayley, G. H. Hardy, Oliver Heaviside, Andrew Wiles, Edward Jenner, Francis Crick, Joseph Lister, Joseph Priestley, Thomas Young, Christopher Wren and Richard Dawkins.

Its foundational principles were diffusing the knowledge of, and facilitating the general introduction of useful mechanical inventions and improvements, as well as enhancing the application of science to the common purposes of life (including through teaching, courses of philosophical lectures, and experiments).

[329] Domestically it drove the Industrial Revolution, resulting in industrialised agriculture, manufacture, engineering and mining, as well as new and pioneering road, rail and water networks to facilitate their expansion and development.

[330] Geographical and natural resource advantages of Great Britain also contributed, with the country's extensive coastlines and many navigable rivers in an age when water was the easiest means of transportation along with its had high quality coal.

Henry Maudsley's most influential invention was the screw-cutting lathe, a machine which created uniformity in screws and allowed for the application of interchangeable parts (a prerequisite for mass production): it was a revolutionary development necessary for the Industrial Revolution.

England has produced grand slam winners: Cyril Walker, Tony Jacklin, Nick Faldo, and Justin Rose in the men's and Laura Davies, Alison Nicholas, and Karen Stupples in the women's.

Other songs are sometimes used, including "Land of Hope and Glory" (used as England's anthem in the Commonwealth Games), "Jerusalem" (sung at international cricket matches), "Rule Britannia", and "I Vow to Thee, My Country".

Whitehall by Francis Dodd (1920) displaying the Palace of Westminster
Interior of Christ Church Cathedral in Oxford
Morris dancing
Durham Cathedral , dating from 1093
The English landscape garden at Stourhead, described as a 'living work of art' when first opened in the 1750s
The Staffordshire Hoard is the largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold and silver metalwork yet found . It consists of almost 4,600 items and metal fragments.
The Fairy Ring by William Holmes Sullivan , c.1908
Flatford Mill ('Scene on a Navigable River') by John Constable , c. 1816
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. [ 33 ]
Jack In the Green , a traditional English folk custom being celebrated in Hastings Old Town , known for its many pre-Victorian buildings. [ 39 ]
The Roman Baths in Bath; a temple was constructed on the site between 60–70CE in the first few decades of Roman Britain.
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.
Edward Elgar is one of England's most celebrated classical composers.
The Royal College of Music is the oldest conservatoire in the UK, established by royal charter in 1882. [ 74 ]
Alfred Hitchcock is often regarded as the greatest British filmmaker, [ 78 ] and was described as "a straightforward middle-class Englishman who just happened to be an artistic genius." [ 79 ]
Christopher Lee (seen here as Dracula in 1958) starred in many of Hammer 's British horror films.
Procession of characters from Shakespeare's plays
National performing arts are held annually at the Royal Albert Hall , as well as The Proms during the summer.
A traditional Punch and Judy booth, at Swanage , Dorset, England
Stinking Bishop cheese
A pint of real ale
The wizard Merlin features as a character in many works of fiction , including the BBC series Merlin .
Countries where English is natively spoken or has official status
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 .)
The Lady Chapel of Wells Cathedral
The Lindisfarne Gospels
Charles Dickens ' 1843 novella A Christmas Carol played a major role in reviving the "spirit" of Christmas and seasonal goodwill.
Sir Isaac Newton is regarded as one of the most influential scientists of all time and as a key figure in the Scientific Revolution . [ 312 ]
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 . [ 321 ]
Josiah Wedgwood was a leading entrepreneur in the Industrial Revolution .
Francis Bacon led the advancement of both natural philosophy and the scientific method and his works remained deeply influential in the Scientific Revolution . [ 341 ]
Men in cricket whites play upon a green grass cricket field amidst a stadium.
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. [ 348 ]
First played in 1877, the Wimbledon Championships is the oldest tennis tournament in the world. [ 360 ]
King Alfred the Great statue in Winchester, Hampshire. The 9th-century English king encouraged education in his kingdom. [ 383 ]