BRITISH HISTORY

GREENWICH TUTORIAL ACADEMY HISTORY OF BRITAIN

Britain consists of a small number of islands off Western Europe. For many thousands of years its existence was unknown to those living in urban cultures to the south. For a period it was known as Alban, a land in the North Sea. Only for approximately a thousand years has it been known as England.

At present, Britain has a population of approximately 62 million. It is made up of the largest island in Europe, although the entirety of the British Isles consists of about 1000 islands. An originator of modern democracy, its Empire once touched the four corners of the world. Two World Wars left it deeply indebted, and for decades forestalled economic stability.

Britain was for many thousands of years subject to Ice sheets that rolled over the country only to retreat and roll over the country again. At times, the weather was hot and inhabited by rhinoceros, lions, and early humans.

At Boxgove and Swanscombe in Kent are examples of early human hunting sites. Boxgrove is best known for the Lower Palaeolithic archaeological site discovered in a gravel quarry near the village. The site was excavated between 1983 and 1996. Acheulean flint tools and the remains of animals (some butchered) dating to 500,000 BCE. Remains of Homo heidelbergensis were found on the site in 1994, the only postcranial hominid bone to have been found in Northern Europe. At Swanscombe, a small quiet town, 400,000 year old bone fragments and tools of a late Homo erectus were discovered in 1935. Excavations for the Channel Tunnel revealed similarly aged human tools alongside the remains of a Straight-Tusked Elephant.

When the ice returned, human groups left crossing over to Spain. Although some geneticists assert that many British people can trace their ancestry to the original Homo Sapiens settlers of 20,000 years ago, this seems unlikely, unless the same groups left and returned after as much as a thousand or two thousand years. Genetic evidence asserts that indigenous British, now best represented by Welsh and perhaps the Irish, are related to Basques in northern Spain. Because of differences in language between the Welsh and Irish it is also thought that they may have entered the islands by different routes.

By the Mesolithic, approximately 10,000 BCE, there were settled populations living throughout Britain and in what is now part of the North Sea. With the rise in sea levels, c6000 BCE, the North Sea rushed in and the Channel between England and France was created. The Dogger Bank, now under the sea, was probably one of the more fertile areas of the region and was also a way for groups, including herds of deer, to pass over from the continent. From then on, the British Isles became secluded in the Atlantic.

Of course people from the continent found a way to reach Britain. A skeleton, found close to StoneHenge, is of a strong middle aged man who originated from Central Europe. He may have been part of an elite group speaking a Celtic language that over time controlled parts of Britain, ruling over an indigenous population, different perhaps in appearance. Britain has long been a haven of immigrants.

STONE HENGE

The West Atlantic area of Europe is famous for its monolithic constructions. There are many notable ones throughout Britain, as far north as Scotland. These monoliths appear to present a cultural development that may indicate changes in lifestyle, perception and a new approach to the land. Monoliths declare an ownership of the land, indicating a sedentary society.

Often, as in Britain it indicated increased control over the land, imposing local identity and boundaries, control over the landscape. The large stone circles may have replicated the heavens, demonstrating a concept of the world, continuous, contained and circular. Time may have become an obsession as a consequence of intensified farming.

Settlements have recently been discovered close to StoneHenge indicating that originally it was the centre of a vibrant urban community. Places like StoneHenge, rather than standing isolated as they do now, were a means of establishing large communities over a considerable area. They represent an important stage in greater social complexity, StoneHenge serving as St Paul’s Cathedral, Houses of Parliament and the London Eye in one symbol. It represents a statement on the nature of the surrounding community at the time.

The religion StoneHenge represented is difficult to ascertain. Whatever, it is likely to have been one based upon the seasons and the heavens, apparently providing computational data on both the moon and sun.

Clearly, peoples entered the country from abroad, but then there would have been little genuine concern other origins. It is likely communities in Eastern Britain had kin in communities on the continent; exchange of goods and ideas was commonplace as imperialism had yet to be invented in Western and Northern Europe.

ROMANS

Britain’s prosperity, largely confined to the South East of the country, was due to its connections with the continent, especially with northern Gaul, what is now northern France and Belgium. Some tribes of northern Gaul may have had land also in Britain. Elsewhere, trade prospered between Spain, Ireland and southern Britain, what is now Devon, Somerset and Cornwall. The Romans were never to enjoy much control over these areas, left in the hands of powerful tribal leaders who continued the British way of life.

Although Caesar land in Britain in 55 BCE, he struggled to make an impact against the combined tribes facing him. He returned the following year, with greater luck. But still he only made limited impact. Back in Rome, nevertheless, although he had acquired little booty, he claimed a victory.

By the time Britain became of interest to the cunning Roman general Caesar, intent on raising his political profile back in Rome, it was a prosperous and largely peaceful land. It may be that Britain had seen few wars up to that point. British chieftains or kings often ruled from hill forts, similar to those found in Gaul. In the far west of England, many of these appear to have survived Roman rule.

In 43 AD the Roman Emperor Claudius, related to Caesar, tried again with a much better prepared invasion. In this instance, the Romans obtained a foothold. They occupied the Catuvellaunian capital of Colchester, the most important town of southern Britain. It took another 30 years before the Romans conquered most of southern and eastern Britain, the area we now call England.

Although the ancient Britains are thought to be Celtic language speakers, we cannot be sure. While elements close to modern France may have been, it is possible that others spoke different languages. Those opposite present day Holland and Western Germany may, for all we know, have spoken a similar language.