The United Kingdom has such an array of wonderful country parks, forests, and estates that it would be impossible to visit them all in one lifetime. As with all countries, the tales told about some of our dear forests are quite simply . . . petrifying.

One would do well to avoid some of the wooded areas on our list as they are not for the faint of heart. Whether you choose to believe these stories or not, read on to find out about 10 forests in Britain that we bet you would not enter at night.

10 Epping Forest
Essex

The Epping Forest is a massively sprawling area of woodland which straddles the border between London and Essex. It is somewhat known as a burial area for murder victims due to its proximity to London. In fact, many victims of the Kray twins are supposedly buried there.

As a result, the forest is notorious for ghostly sightings or contact from the other world. Some people have even reported being touched, pushed, or chased in the forest!

During a 2003 episode of Most Haunted, the crew was on the lookout for the ghost of Dick Turpin. He was a highwayman from the 18th century who used the forest as a hideout and is known to have committed at least one murder there.^[1]

During the episode, the crew reported that they believed Turpin was making contact with them, further leading them off course until they had to be rescued. Other unsettling accounts come from the 1960s when people claimed they had witnessed ghostly figures emerging from a pond within the forest. The figures, some of which were on horseback, disappeared after heading toward town.

Unsurprisingly, with such a grisly history, the forest continues to mystify and frighten folks to this day.

9 Great Wood
Blickling

The grand estate at Blickling Hall, known as the Great Wood, is the reported site of the ghost of Anne Boleyn. Blickling Hall has been suggested as the birthplace of Boleyn, and the estate was owned by her father. Therefore, both Anne and her father, Thomas Boleyn, are said to haunt the premises.

On the anniversary of her execution on May 19, she is supposedly seen riding from the woods up to the hall on a coach drawn by four beheaded horsemen. When she arrives at the hall, her coach vanishes. It is said that she is headless.

After vanishing, the ghostly apparition is known to traverse the corridors of Blickling Hall for the remainder of the night while clutching her own head. Thomas, who was also beheaded, is said to be seen crossing bridges repeatedly in what is described as repentance for allowing his daughter’s beheading.^[2]

The estate is open to the public year-round, and visitors can learn more about the infamous ghostly inhabitants. Just avoid May 19 if you can.

8 The New Forest
Hampshire

The New Forest has been described as the “most haunted part of Britain” due to the sheer number of sightings reported every year. The forest is situated in the county of Hampshire and covers a large part of the southern tip of England near Southampton.

Supposedly, the forest is home to a number of poltergeists and spirits that have multiple reported sightings. One of the more famous is that of King William II, who was killed by his own brother in the woods. He is said to inhabit the area near the Rufus Stone and is reported to have red hair. Therefore, he has been dubbed “Rufus the Red.”

On the outskirts of the New Forest near Fordingbridge, you may see a group of ghostly monks who walk the churchyard at Breamore. These monks are said to appear near stone coffins before disappearing into the misty tree line.^[3]

There are many more accounts that come from the New Forest. These include tales of witches, moaning and wailing sounds, and even faces who peer through village windows!

7 Fountains Abbey
Yorkshire

Found near Ripon in Yorkshire, Fountains Abbey is the one of the best-preserved Cistercian monasteries in the UK. Cistercians were groups of Catholic monks who were confined to monasteries, and this is one of the more famous in the world.

The abbey was established in 1132. It has long been said that the voices of the deceased monks can be heard at the Chapel of Nine Altars. The eerie presence of the ghostly monks is probably down to the fact that as many as 2,000 of them could buried under the abbey.

The grounds are also said to produce the chanting of a choir, even though this is not possible. The grounds have vast gardens and forestry. You would be forgiven for finding them absolutely terrifying, considering that there are even touted photographs of ghostly figures seen within the monastery. The nearby deer park adds to the mystifying and atmospheric effect of the whole area.^[4]

6 Witches Wood
Devon

Witches Wood can be found in Lydford Gorge in the southwestern county of Devon. The wood is said to be home to a number of ghostly visitors. Parts of the walk into and through the gorge have been described as being “completely surrounded by trees,” so much so that even during the day it can feel dark.

Once through the gorge, the main feature can be reached: the 30-meter (98 ft) White Lady Waterfall. In the local area, the waterfall is said to be named after a mysterious white lady who has been seen under the waterfall. Supposedly, she wears a flowing white gown and saves people from drowning in the river.^[5]

Another eerie place to visit in the gorge is Devil’s Cauldron. By all accounts, this is a series of whirlpools that can be deceptively tricky to navigate. The Devil’s Cauldron is said to be the scene of deaths or suicides due to its danger.

5 Bradley Woods
Lincolnshire

The village of Bradley in Lincolnshire is reportedly the home of a ghost known as the Black Lady of Bradley Woods. With multiple reported sightings over the years, it is said that she haunts the woods on the edges of the village.

The Black Lady is described as wearing a black cloak and having tears flowing down her “pretty” face. She is known to be sorrowful, and there are no reports of her harming anyone who has witnessed her eerie presence.

Some people believe they have hit her with their cars. But when they get out of their vehicles to check, nobody is in sight. Other accounts tell of her appearing in a mist form. But when these individuals follow this mystical sight, it disappears suddenly.

There are even photos available from people who have snapped pictures of the woods. As of 2019, people have seen things in the woods which they cannot explain. Some local newspapers claim that it could have been Bradley’s own “Bigfoot.”^[6]

There are many origin stories of the Black Lady, including her as a raped wife whose baby was stolen or as a local spinster. But nothing definitive has been put forward. However, one thing is certain: Her spirit seems ever present in the area.

4 Cannock Chase
Staffordshire

Cannock Chase is a large countryside area in Staffordshire with dense forestry and open areas. The region was made infamous in the 1960s due to a series of grisly murders of schoolgirls.

However, it has been known to be haunted before this public attention. The Four Crosses, an old public house in Cannock Chase, is said to have a high level of poltergeist activity. The sounds of children crying, the movement of objects, and strange footsteps are just a few of the occurrences there.

As for the woodlands, there is the mysterious case of the “Black-Eyed Child.” This ghastly girl was witnessed in the 1980s, and the following is an excerpt from a mother who claims to have seen her:

I turned ‘round and saw a girl stood behind me, no more than 10 years old, with her hands over her eyes. [ . . . ] I asked if she was okay and if she had been the one screaming. She put her arms down by her side and opened her eyes. That’s when I saw they were completely black, no iris, no white, nothing. [ . . . ] When I looked again, the child was gone. It was so strange.^[7]

Creepy indeed!

3 Dering Woods
Kent

Dering Woods is situated around 3 kilometers (2 mi) from the village of Pluckley, Kent, and is known locally for its eerie stories of the paranormal. The Guinness Book of Records recorded Pluckley as Britain’s most haunted village, so it’s no wonder the surrounding forestry has this reputation.

According to tales, there are continuous screams emanating from the woods day and night. Therefore, the woods are locally known as the “Screaming Woods.” It is not clear what or where the screams come from. Paranormal hunters have long visited the area and undertaken ventures to see what lies in there.^[8]

There are creepy stories about a colonel who had previously committed suicide in the forest walking around and reaching out to visitors. Other accounts depict a highwayman who actually jumps out at hikers in the woods.

There are many more accounts to be found online and reported videos of the screaming. Whether you choose to believe what you see is up to you, but the village of Pluckley and the nearby Dering Woods are certainly as creepy as you can get.

2 Bisham Woods
Berkshire

Bisham Woods are a series of wooded areas near Bisham Abbey in Berkshire. The woods used to form part of the wider Bisham Estate, which once housed Lady Hoby. She was known to be a friend of Queen Elizabeth I.

According to legend, Lady Hoby was a supremely proud and strict mother who accidentally killed her son while beating him. It was likely that Lady Hoby wanted her offspring to be as educated as those of her royal counterparts.

Due to this tragedy, her ghost is said to inhabit Bisham Abbey and the surrounding woodlands. Reported sightings include her washing her bloodied hands, looking remorseful and tearful.^[9]

According to local stories, she is seen more often when there is a coronation in the UK as this reminds her of choosing the monarch over her own son. She is said to be dressed in white with a black face, doomed to sob for eternity due to the abhorrent crime she committed against her son.

1 Wistman’s Wood
Dartmoor

Wistman’s Wood is a high-altitude oak woods on a large moor known as Dartmoor. The woods used to be part of a larger covering of woodland on Dartmoor. A lot of the trees are covered with lichen, which makes them look creepier than usual.

This was described by Countryfile magazine as “making the trees look like writhing arms grabbing fistfuls of passing witches’ hair.” It’s also highly inaccessible to wild animals on foot, so the woodland takes on an undisturbed and overgrown look.^[10]

Wistman’s Wood is continually linked with the Wild Hunt, a cavalcade of ghostly dogs or packs of hunters chasing others. Locally, the story goes that “Wish Hounds” live in the trees and hunt those at night who dare to enter. These hounds are described as spectral black, and they howl into the night.

Other stories include Hairy Hands Bridge, which is said to be haunted by an immigrant (with hairy hands) who also frequented the surrounding area. It would take a brave person to traverse these woods at night.

Great Britain’s rich and colorful history has been a host to some of the best-known mysteries across the world. Just looking at England alone—the cases of Stonehenge, The Princes in the Tower, and Jack the Ripper have been endlessly analyzed and debated over the years.

As interesting as these classic cases are, however, there are plenty of other historical British mysteries that deserve a second look—from the strange death of a medieval king to a handful of unsolved Victorian murders.

10 The Assassination Of Robert Pakington

Robert Pakington has the unfortunate distinction of possibly being the earliest victim killed by a handgun in London. Pakington was a merchant with political ambitions, becoming a member of Parliament in 1533 and again in 1536. Politically, Pakington represented the interests of his fellow merchants, and he was also a critic of the Catholic clergy.

On a misty morning on November 13, 1536, Pakington woke up at 4:00 AM to go to church. The church was somewhere across from Pakington’s house. While the merchant was crossing the street, he was shot and killed. Neighbors confirmed hearing the gun, but nobody actually saw the murder or its perpetrator.^[1]

Pakington’s murder shocked the city, all the more so due to the weapon used in the crime. Despite the mayor’s offer of a hefty reward, nobody was ever captured or charged. Later historical chroniclers, such as the Protestant John Foxe, tended to pin the murder on Catholic elements, with Foxe claiming that Pakington was assassinated on the orders of a priest.

9 The Murder Of Janet Rogers

When Janet Rogers agreed to help her brother William Henderson on his farm near Perth, Scotland, it was only supposed to be a temporary job. Henderson had just fired a domestic servant, and Rogers would fill her place until another worker could be found. In March 1866, only three days after her arrival, Rogers was murdered in Henderson’s kitchen with an axe.

Henderson was the first person to find his sister’s body. Police considered the farmer a suspect, and they arrested him with one of his workers, a plowman named James Crichton. However, the possibility that Henderson was the killer was weak because he’d been at a farmer’s market in Perth at the time of the murder. Both men were eventually released, yet Crichton was later arrested again.^[2]

With a lack of physical evidence, the case against Crichton was flimsy. His trial ended in an acquittal, but William Henderson never stopped believing that Crichton was the culprit. One plausible theory suggests that Crichton tried burglarizing the farmhouse, but when he stumbled on Rogers in the house, he struck her with an axe and fled.

8 The Disappearance Of Francis Lovell

As one of King Richard III’s closest friends, the nobleman Francis Lovell was a dedicated ally during the final years of the Wars of the Roses when Richard III and his Yorkist supporters fought for the English throne with Henry Tudor and the Lancastrians. In August 1485, the civil war took a decisive turn when Richard III died during the Battle of Bosworth Field, making his rival Henry Tudor the new king, Henry VII.

Even after Richard III’s death, Lovell stayed loyal to his old friend’s cause. In 1486, Lovell came out of hiding to take part in a rebellion against Henry VII.

When that revolt failed, Lovell took up the cause of the pretender Lambert Simnel, a boy pushed by the Yorkists as King Edward VI, the “true” new king of England. During the Battle of Stoke Field, the Yorkists and their boy king were soundly defeated, and it is here that Francis Lovell disappears from history.^[3]

While it’s known that Lovell escaped the battle, his whereabouts have remained a mystery. It was said that he might have retreated into a cave or perhaps fled abroad. On the other hand, he might never have left England. As a matter of fact, in 1708, a skeleton never identified was uncovered in a hidden part of Lovell’s house.

7 The Murder Of Fred Atkins

In the early hours of September 22, 1881, police officer Fred Atkins was assigned to patrol the district of Kingston Hill in London, a neighborhood then plagued by burglars. While walking his beat, Atkins was suddenly shot multiple times, taking wounds in his chest, abdomen, and left thigh. The gunshots attracted the attention of a mansion’s resident and housekeeper, who discovered Atkins lying on their front steps.

Atkins was hurt badly. But he was still able to talk, stating that he hadn’t seen or heard anybody on his beat. Unfortunately, Atkins was too fragile to move to a hospital, and the young policeman died soon after his attack. A lantern and chisel were found outside the mansion where Atkins had collapsed, and a window on the building was also missing its iron bars.

Investigators believed that Atkins must have been ambushed by a burglar while conducting his patrol. With few leads to follow, authorities were never able to bring Atkins’s murderer to justice. Since 2012, a plaque honoring the memory of the murdered officer has stood outside a pub in Kingston Hill.^[4]

6 The Murder Of Georgina Moore

Georgina Moore was only seven years old when she vanished in London on December 20, 1881. The little girl had eaten lunch at a family friend’s house and was last seen heading back to school. When Georgina didn’t come home afterward, her parents organized a search effort. Despite looking all night, Georgina’s father, Stephen, couldn’t find a trace of her.

A boy at Georgina’s school reported seeing her with a woman whom the police believed was Esther Pay, an acquaintance of the Moores. Pay denied any involvement. But as the weeks passed by, she often asked Georgina’s parents whether there’d been any updates on the case. Nearly six weeks after Georgina’s disappearance, the girl’s body was found in a river.

An autopsy determined that Georgina had died on December 20 as a result of being strangled. Suspicions mounted against Esther Pay, especially when it was revealed that Stephen Moore once had an affair with her and that Esther still seemed bitter that Moore broke it off.

While Pay was brought to trial for Georgina’s murder, she was ultimately acquitted. It still hasn’t been established whether Pay might have murdered Georgina or whether an accomplice or somebody else was responsible.^[5]

5 The Death Of King William II

On August 2, 1100, the English king William II went hunting in southern England’s royal New Forest. Among his party was Walter Tirel, a courtier, and the king’s brother Henry. Soon after the hunt began, the news spread that William had been shot and killed by an arrow in the heart.

At the time, hunting was a dangerous activity, and few people doubted that William’s sudden death was unintentional. Tirel swore that it was an accident. But afraid that he might be held accountable, he ended up leaving England for France. Meanwhile, William’s brother declared himself King Henry I.

While modern historians believe that William was killed accidentally, others have speculated that something more sinister was afoot. There have been numerous theories about William’s death—from the bizarre accusation that William was murdered by a pagan fertility cult to the more grounded suggestion that the hostile king of France had masterminded everything.

Whatever the reason, it was very convenient for the ambitious Henry I, who just happened to be with his brother that fatal day.^[6]

4 The Innocence Of Elizabeth Fenning

Until 1861, an act of attempted murder could warrant the death penalty in England. This was the charge on which Elizabeth Fenning, a servant convicted of trying to murder her employer and his family, was hanged in July 1815. Fenning’s execution provoked a scandal, and many people believed that she had been wrongly accused.

Fenning lived in London, where she worked as a cook for a man named Orlibar Turner. On March 21, 1815, Fenning, Turner, and two other members of the household became terribly sick after eating some dumplings that Fenning had made. Although everybody recovered and the cook became the sickest of the bunch, Fenning was accused of trying to poison the Turners.

An analysis of the dough in the dumplings found arsenic in the mix, a sign taken that Fenning must have been the poisoner. While Fenning repeatedly maintained her innocence and there was only circumstantial evidence, the law determined that she was guilty anyway.

Years later, a man on his deathbed in Essex is said to have confessed to the crime. The details are vague, but the supposed culprit claimed that he resented his uncle, “Mr. Turner,” and had slipped poison into some dough when Fenning wasn’t in the kitchen.^[7]

3 The Disappearance Of Urban Napoleon Stanger

The German-born Urban Napoleon Stanger was a baker who set up business in London in 1870. Stanger’s shop did well and was popular among other Germans. On November 13, 1881, the baker never showed up to work. After his disappearance, Stanger’s employee Felix Stumm hastily took over the bakery.

When Scotland Yard was called in, officers searched Stanger’s house to no avail. They dug up his backyard, checked under his floorboards, and inspected his ovens. While the officers did recover some bones, these were shown to have belonged to a small animal.

Stanger was untraceable. His worker Stumm seemed awfully suspicious, especially considering that he’d gone drinking with Stanger and some friends the night before his boss vanished.

Stumm was never proven to have been involved with Stanger’s disappearance, but he was caught using Stanger’s name on securities. The law found Stumm guilty of fraud and sentenced him to 10 years in prison. His boss, Stanger, was never seen or heard from again.^[8]

2 The Death Of Owain Glyndwr

England had conquered Wales in the late 13th century, putting an end to the country’s independence. While there were some minor rebellions afterward, the strongest threat to English rule erupted in 1400 when the Welsh nobleman Owain Glyndwr declared himself the Prince of Wales.

Welsh laborers, students, and soldiers all flocked to Glyndwr’s army, launching a rebellion that would last over a decade. Even though Glyndwr was ultimately defeated, he still had many sympathizers.

Living as an outlaw after 1410, Glyndwr went into hiding and disappeared. Sightings of him continued for years. But according to the medieval Welsh historian Adam of Usk, the great rebel leader died in 1415.^[9]

The circumstances of Glyndwr’s final years are murky, and the locations of his death and burial have been debated for centuries. After his disappearance, Glyndwr became a national symbol, a mythical king that legend said would someday return to lead Wales to independence.

1 The Murder Of George Burrington

The English official George Burrington served two terms as governor of North Carolina. The first was from 1724 to 1725, and the second from 1731 to 1734. During his oversight of the colony, the hot-tempered Burrington made a number of enemies. In fact, his first term ended in a dismissal after a judge reported to the British government that Burrington had tried to break into his house.

Following his dismissal, Burrington demanded a duel with his successor, Sir Richard Everard. When Burrington came back into office in 1731, it wasn’t long before he alienated and insulted many of his fellow officials with his crude and unruly behavior.

This second term also ended in a dismissal, with the result that Burrington returned to England. In 1736, the retired official claimed that an assassination plot had been hatched against him during the last stretch of his governorship.

Burrington’s retirement was a comfortable one, but his life ended violently and mysteriously. On February 22, 1759, the former governor’s body was found in a canal in Westminster.

As his pockets were turned inside out and there wasn’t money on him, it was thought that Burrington had been robbed and murdered. His walking stick was also damaged, indicating that Burrington didn’t go down without a final fight.^[10]

Tristan Shaw is an American writer who enjoys folklore, literature, and history. You can follow him on Twitter.

There is a widespread myth that Britain has only been successfully invaded three times: by the Romans, the Saxons, and the Normans. (Maybe they were invaded four times, if we count the Nazi occupation of Guernsey during World War II.) Of course, this isn’t true, and today, we’re here to tell you about ten times Britain was successfully invaded.

First, for the sake of clarity: We’re defining a “successful invasion” as an event in which a military group or leader was able to fulfill a set objective on British territory in the British Isles—ideally involving a naval landing, because that’s more exciting.

10 The Roman Invasion

The Romans first landed on the shores of Kent in AD 43 (not counting Julius Caesar’s effort a century earlier). Their conquest ended in AD 84, with the conclusion of Agricola’s campaign. It took six emperors, nine military campaigns, and four decades to fully subjugate England and Wales, and even then, two legions were garrisoned there permanently until the end of Roman rule. British resistance was fierce and long-lived: When Julius Frontinus finished his Welsh campaign in AD 76, he thought he’d brought peace to the region, but when Agricola arrived in AD 78, he had to reconquer the north because the tribes had become independent again.^[1]

The tribes lived alongside the Romans for most of their occupation, usually incorporated by diplomatic means. The Catuvellauni were made Roman citizens when their capital was granted municipium status, and they are recorded as helping to rebuild Hadrian’s Wall in the early third century. The Corieltauvi seem to have been allies with Rome; their capital of Ratae was captured in AD 44, but their kings were allowed to continue minting coins in the years following, suggesting that they were allowed to stay independent. These tribes posed a great threat to Rome when relations turned sour: When the Iceni and Trinovantes rose up together, they destroyed the three biggest Roman towns in the country, including the capital.

Even so, the Roman conquest was successful and led to over three centuries of Roman rule, during which time British culture was fundamentally and permanently altered.

9 The Carausian Revolt

At the time of Constantius I’s invasion (the end of the third century) Rome’s authority was on the wane, and Britain was suffering attacks by Saxon pirates. A man called Carausius, who was the commander of the Roman fleet in Britain, proved himself very capable at protecting the island and became popular—so popular, in fact, that when Rome ordered his execution (apparently because he was seizing goods from pirates for himself), he was able to declare himself emperor of Britain.

Britain was independent from Rome for ten years, seven of which were under Carausius’s rule. He was a classic populist, stamping his coins with phrases like “the golden age is back” and calling himself the “restorer of Britain.” He seems to have enjoyed widespread support, because his name was found engraved on a milestone as far away from London as Cumbria. This support began to wane, however, and his longtime financial advisor, Allectus, arranged Carausius’s assassination and assumed control of his budding empire in 293.

The Roman reconquest began in 296, when the Roman army landed in two separate divisions—one led by the praetorian prefect Asclepiodotus and the other by the emperor himself—sailing from the Seine and from Boulogne. While exact details are sketchy, we can assume that the two divisions landed in different places, perhaps to outmaneuver Allectus and his army. It was Asclepiodotus’s division that ultimately engaged and defeated Allectus.^[2] Rebel support collapsed with his death, and Roman rule was restored—but not before they burned down the basilica in London for good measure.

Rome was clearly determined to prevent Britain from becoming a seat of potential rebel power again, because the province was split into five in Diocletian’s reforms just two decades later, and the governor of each province would no longer have control over the local military.

8 The Great Heathen Army

The Great Heathen Army wreaked havoc across Anglo-Saxon England for 13 years, subduing the kingdoms of East Anglia and Southern Northumbria and causing enough damage that, by 877, Wessex was the only Anglo-Saxon kingdom left that could still mount an organized resistance.

They were finally halted by Alfred the Great and his Wessexian army at the Battle of Edington, which led to the Treaty of Wedmore, whereby one of the Viking kings, Guthrum, agreed to become Christian, take an Anglo-Saxon name, and become Alfred’s godson. In return, an official border was agreed between Saxon and Viking England—which mostly followed the route of the old Roman road of Watling Street.

This area of Viking control became known as the Danelaw, and the marks of Viking control and settlement can be seen today in the prevalence of Norse place names in Northeastern England. The Danelaw lasted nearly 100 years, coming to an end when Eric Bloodaxe, last Viking king of York, died in 954.^[3]

7 The Norman Conquest

The Vikings also played a big role in William the Conqueror’s invasion a century later, though they certainly didn’t intend to. King Harold of England had just defeated King Harald of Norway outside York when he heard that another claimant to the English throne, Duke William of Normandy, had landed in Southern England. He left some of his army behind and went to meet him, marching long distances each day for a couple of weeks.

He met William’s army at Hastings and was narrowly defeated in a close battle that has since become very famous. He died on the field of battle, though the story of him being hit in the eye with an arrow is likely untrue. Though William was now secure in his legal right to be king—the other two major claimants lying dead—he was by no means secure on the throne and faced almost constant rebellion for the next six years.

William brought the feudal system to medieval England, and he and his supporters built castles across the country to cement their control. He organized the creation of Domesday Book, a register of all the settlements of England, and restructured the tax system.^[4] The feudal system came to define medieval England and wasn’t abolished until 1660—almost 600 years after the invasion.

6 Matilda And Henry’s Invasion

Queen Matilda, sometimes known as Empress Maud, was the person chosen to succeed her father, Henry I. When he died in 1135, however, her cousin Stephen had more support among the barons, so he was able to seize the throne.

Matilda had the support of her half-brother Robert of Gloucester, one of the most powerful men in the kingdom, and he supported her when she tried to assert her claim. A drawn-out civil war began, one which lasted 15 years and would become known as the Anarchy.

Matilda saw some initial success but routinely failed to gather allies or support—she was elected “Lady of the English” in Winchester in 1141 but was driven out of London by the locals when she arrived for her official coronation due to her arrogant personality and demands of money. The war dragged on for over a decade, with both sides struggling to gain the upper hand, even though Matilda herself retired to Normandy in 1148.

The strange war came to an equally strange conclusion when Matilda’s son Henry, who had significant holdings in France, set his sights on England. He sailed over in January 1153, meeting King Stephen’s army on the River Avon later that month. However, the barons on both sides wanted peace and refused to fight. Angered, Stephen agreed to a truce and retreated to London.

The campaign continued for another six months, during which time Henry went around the country making grants and concessions in an attempt to elicit support. King Stephen besieged Wallingford but was forced to retreat when Henry and his army arrived, and both sides once again refused to fight.^[5]

A peace was signed shortly after, in which Stephen effectively conceded defeat by agreeing to adopt Henry as his heir and leave the kingdom to him rather than his own heir, Eustace, on his death. This compromise was undoubtedly unsatisfactory to most people involved, not least Eustace, and probably wasn’t intended to be a permanent solution. However, Stephen died just over a year later in October 1154, and Henry succeeded to the throne. The civil war was over, and Henry ruled for 35 years.

5 Isabella And Mortimer’s Invasion

Queen Consort Isabella enjoyed a healthy and normal relationship with her husband, King Edward II, for most of her life. That changed, however, when he sent her on a diplomatic mission to France in 1325. She refused to come home and remained unswayed by her husband’s pleas and threats. The king of France, who was her brother, refused to force her to return. This was a big problem for the British king, especially because she had his son and heir, Edward of Windsor, with her.

By this time, King Edward was controlled by Hugh Despenser the Younger and his father, who were using their influence to extort and bully people out of their lands. The king was wildly unpopular, and Isabella loathed Despenser. She seems to have entered into a relationship with another enemy of the king, Roger de Mortimer. They plotted together to seize the kingdom from Edward, and in September 1326, they landed unopposed in Suffolk with an army they’d raised in Hainault.^[6]

Edward originally intended to resist her in London but fled the city some days later when many lords declared their support for Isabella. The campaign was brutally short. Edward fled to Wales with the younger Despenser, apparently hoping to take refuge in the Despenser-held lands there, but he was chased down and captured between Caerphilly and Neath in November, less than two months after the invasion began. He was murdered, and the Despensers were executed.

4 Edward IV’s Invasion

As was the case with most successions during the Wars of the Roses, Edward had to secure his throne by force. A member of the House of York, he and his allies defeated the Lancastrians in 1461. He owed most of his success to Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, who was the most powerful man in England at the time.

Desperate to secure his throne, Edward set about trying to reduce Neville’s influence, including by marrying Elizabeth Woodville instead of a wife chosen by Neville and the other Yorkist nobles. He also negotiated an alliance with Burgundy while Neville was on a diplomatic mission in France, who were Burgundy’s enemies.

Deciding he’d had enough, Neville switched to the Lancastrian side and, with the backing of the king of France, invaded England in 1470. Quickly supported by most of Southern England and some key figures who switched sides, the Lancastrians took London and proclaimed Edward and his supporters traitors. Edward was forced to flee the realm as Lancastrians returned to England and reclaimed their estates.

However, Edward found support in the King of Burgundy, who gave him supplies and soldiers. He was also supported by Richard, Duke of Gloucester, who had fled with him. They returned to the north of England together and secured Yorkshire, initially claiming that they only intended to recover the Duchy of York.

Supporters flocked to Edward’s banner, and he was able to outmaneuver his enemies and retake London. He met Neville in battle at Barnet shortly after and killed him. However, Queen Margaret landed in Dorset with her Lancastrian troops on the same day, supported by the French, planning to head to Wales, which was sympathetic to the Lancastrian cause.

After a series of grueling forced marches, including one which saw his army cover 64 kilometers (40 mi) in a single day, Edward caught up with Margaret’s army at the Battle of Tewkesbury in 1471, where he crushed the Lancastrians. Nearly all of their leaders were killed in the battle or executed after. The Lancastrians never fully recovered, and Edward was secure on his throne until his death in 1483.^[7]

3 The Raid On Mount’s Bay

On July 23, 1595, a small Spanish army of 400 men landed in Cornwall. For a nation that prided itself on its naval strength (especially after successfully defeating the Spanish Armada seven years before), this was a disaster in itself for the English. But it was about to get worse.

The town of Mousehole was bombarded from the sea by the Spanish fleet, while the soldiers advanced to the village of Paul and burned it down. Then they moved on to Mount’s Bay itself and sacked and burned the village of Newlyn.

They were finally confronted while on the way to the town of Penzance by the 500-strong local militia, who blocked them at the beach. Threatened by the Spanish ships and the soldiers, who were planning to flank them, the militia fled, and the town of Penzance was sacked. Some 400 houses were destroyed, and the Spanish held Mass at an open-air site nearby; the Spanish leader promised to build a church on the site once England was conquered, which tells us how confident they were.

The local militia began to reform, this time in larger numbers, but the Spanish already had what they came for. They sailed away on August 4, having not lost a man.^[8]

Queen Elizabeth was rattled by the raid, and the government organized a nation-wide survey of the country’s defenses, as well as the widespread retraining of the militia of the West Country and a barricading of the local ports. While the country ultimately survived the much bigger armada that came two years later, this was only due to a storm in the Channel. This armada was made up of roughly 14,000 men and could have done considerably more damage.

2 The Raid On The Medway

In June 1667, the Dutch fleet sailed up the River Medway to England’s main naval base at Chatham and destroyed 13 English ships before seizing HMS Unity and the pride of the Royal Navy, HMS King Charles. It was the most humiliating naval defeat in English history and had wide ramifications—Samuel Pepys, who was then secretary of the Navy Board, thought it would be the end of the monarchy. The English navy lost three of its four big ships—the other, HMS Royal Sovereign, was only spared because it was in Portsmouth at the time.

The raid itself began with the capture of the fort at Sheerness, which was in the process of being rebuilt. A massive iron chain blocked ships from advancing further down the river, but the Dutch brought it down and defeated the three warships that were guarding it. Three vessels had been scuttled (sunk) across the river to prevent further access, but one sank in the wrong place, leaving a gap for the Dutch fleet to exploit.

The Dutch then came to four of England’s largest ships, including the flagship, the Royal Charles. They seized the flagship, but the other vessels had been scuttled, so they burned the visible parts of these ships to prevent them from being salvaged. With the rest of the fleet secure behind Upnor Castle, the Dutch then chose to retreat with their prizes. Even today, the stern-piece of the Royal Charles is on display in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.^[9]

The disaster caused widespread panic in England, especially in London, where many of the wealthy moved out altogether, taking their valuables with them. The government was desperate for peace, and the Treaty of Breda was signed just over a month later.

1 The Glorious Revolution

Eleven years after the Medway raid, a Dutchman would take the throne of England after being invited by the country’s own parliament.

James II, the Catholic king of England, had had a son, meaning that the throne wouldn’t pass to his Protestant daughter Mary on his death. The new heir would almost certainly be raised a Catholic by James, risking cementing Catholic rule in England. This was enough to persuade several members of Parliament to write to William of Orange, the Protestant Dutch king of the Netherlands (and Mary’s husband), asking him to intercede.

James had prepared for the invasion, and his army, 25,000 strong, was larger than William’s, but the prospect of William’s invasion had triggered defections and anti-Catholic rioting across the country. James moved his army out of London to meet William in a pitched battle, but he retreated back to the capital before the two forces met.

Ultimately, James realized the futility of his opposition and decided to flee the country.

Parliament originally intended to crown Mary as monarch with William as his consort, but William and his forces pressured Parliament into recognizing them both as joint monarch—for the first and only time in British history. In return, William and Mary signed the Bill of Rights, which serves as the foundation of modern British constitutional practice.^[10]

The Victorian age was the birthplace of many things we take for granted today. From refrigeration to wristwatches, many technologies that laid the foundation of modern society were developed over the course of the 1800s. Or at least, that’s what most of us have been taught.

Of course, the 1800s were undoubtedly an age of unprecedented progress and innovation. But many areas of modern life, from the technology we use to the ways we behave, first appeared in Britain in the 1700s.

That century, which laid the groundwork for the global industrial revolution which was to follow, was just as important in the history of the modern world as the Victorian age that followed it. With that in mind, we’ll shed some light on 10 facets of modern life which first developed in Britain in the 1700s.

10 Retail Therapy

In our busy, chaotic modern lives, many of us find solace in spending a day wandering the high street. Even if we don’t buy anything, we find that taking the time to browse the shops relaxes us and makes us feel better about ourselves. You might think that this materialistic way of passing the time must be a modern phenomenon, but it actually has its roots in the 1700s.

Over the course of the 18th century, cities in Britain grew rapidly. This growth was triggered by the flourishing economic wealth of urban areas, which created skilled jobs and helped foster a burgeoning middle class. More people had more money than ever before, and soon, the bustling marketplace was replaced by the flashy high street.^[1]

Shopping became a much more luxurious affair, done for pleasure as much as necessity. In wealthier town centers, it became taboo to even discuss prices or the exchange of money in shops.

The wealthiest were expected to know the prices of most things before they bought or to have so much money that they didn’t care about the price. The details would often be hashed out at a later date to prevent potential embarrassment.

Shopkeepers quickly learned the importance of advertising. Many put a great deal of effort into building elaborate window displays to tempt casual shoppers inside. In a world increasingly dominated by people who could read, they grasped the opportunity presented by the printing revolution and started advertising with fliers, posters, and newspapers. This practice soon spread across the world.

9 Libraries

The Enlightenment led to a shift in European society. People became less interested in an individual’s background and wealth and more interested in their intellectual ability.

Knowledge, learning, and reasoning became highly valued traits, and people became keener to explore history and the sciences. As part of this social shift, libraries became increasingly common.

These libraries were still much different than the ones we are familiar with today. For one thing, they hardly ever contained works of fiction unless the fiction served some kind of moral or intellectual purpose. This was because libraries were still viewed as places of education and learning, the place where people went for reference in the age before the rise of the Internet.

Before the 1700s, most libraries were privately owned and only open to a select few individuals. This changed over the course of the century. Many people of lesser means grouped their money together and bought communal books, which they then circulated among themselves.^[2]

As these private readers’ clubs grew, the biggest began storing their books in central locations and charging new people a membership fee to join. This was how most libraries before the Victorian age operated.

These organizations grew along with the public’s interest in reading, and many, particularly those associated with universities, began offering academics and students free access. These groups became known as subscription libraries—open to all who could afford the admission fee.

By 1850, England and Scotland boasted roughly 500 subscription libraries between them, enough to cover a considerable portion of the population.

8 Office Blocks

Nothing symbolizes modern urban life better than the soaring office blocks which dominate our city skylines. While the modern mazes of cubicles, computers, and wastepaper bins might look incredibly different than any building in the 1700s, the first office block of the modern age was built in London in 1726: The Old Admiralty Office.^[3]

The burgeoning British Empire had become wrapped up in increasingly detailed and complicated bureaucracy, so the government constructed a purpose-built home for the navy to manage its paperwork and organize meetings. More government office buildings appeared across Westminster over the course of the century.

East India House, the central offices of the East India Company, was rebuilt in 1729. Over the course of the century, it grew to become one of the most important centers of administration in the world as the company governed India as one of its possessions.

Charles Lamb, who worked as a clerk at the office for 30 years, described it as “light-exuding, pent-up offices, where candles for one-half the year supplied the place of the Sun’s light.” Not too dissimilar to some offices around the world today.

7 Tea And Coffee Culture

In medieval times, alcohol was the drink of choice to get people through the working day. Nowadays, however, many of us rely on coffee and tea. This fundamental switch—from a depressant to a stimulant—has often been posited as one of the key factors behind the increase in productivity that occurred in the West during the early modern era.

Although the Portuguese and Dutch were among the first Europeans to trade tea and coffee with the East, these products were usually only available to the wealthy elite. It was in Britain that the now-global coffeehouse culture started. By the time the first coffeehouses opened in Paris (1672) and Boston (1676), there were already around 3,000 coffeehouses across the UK.^[4]

These coffeehouses effectively replaced alehouses as public meeting places. Any man, regardless of wealth, was allowed to attend the coffeehouse if he could pay the one penny entry fee. Coffeehouses were often places of raucous debate, public lectures, and stock market trade, earning them the nickname “penny universities.”

They were a staple of individual liberty. The monarchy tried to stamp them out several times over the course of their history because they had a tendency to encourage free thought. Crucially, however, they also provided a steady supply of ready, hot coffee and tea for any who visited.

As a result, over the course of the 1700s, coffee—and especially tea—replaced alcohol as the drink of choice for the average person. As the British sugar trade was also flourishing at the time, they frequently added sugar and milk to their drinks.

The habit of people from all social classes drinking hot drinks slowly spread across the world, especially in the Victorian era, and is a fundamental part of the culture of many Western countries today.

6 First Newspapers

After the invention of the printing press during the Renaissance, printed broadsheets, pamphlets, and even magazines spread across most of Europe. The proliferation of literature in Germany and Britain inspired the common people to take political stances in the Thirty Years’ War and the English Civil War, respectively. But it was still some time before the first newspaper as we would recognize it appeared.

The press was restricted across Europe in the first few years of its existence. Advertising was forbidden, and publishers who espoused any kind of political stance were at risk of being punished or closed down.

In Britain, the press was strictly limited by the Licensing Act, but newspapers prospered after the act lapsed in 1695. One of the first papers to capitalize on this was The Daily Courant, often considered to be the world’s first successful daily newspaper. It was one of the first newspapers to be supported by advertisements.^[5]

The press expanded rapidly. By 1720, there were dozens of independent, regular newspapers being published across Britain. The common man in Britain had surprisingly easy access to newspapers because many coffeehouses and public houses subscribed to at least one newspaper. This would then be free for guests to read—as long as they didn’t take it away with them.

5 Raw Fruit

While many parts of life in the 1700s seem remarkably similar to modern life, their diet was extremely different. The difficulties of preservation made fresh fruit and vegetables difficult to access for the increasingly large urban population. Fresh meat was also hard to find, so the vast majority of it was either dried or salted.

Most people subsisted on a diet of cheese, bread, pies, and stews. Doctors and generally health-conscious people at the time were actually suspicious of raw vegetables and especially raw fruit, which they believed could cause everything from indigestion to plague.

This changed when James Lind published his A Treatise Of The Scurvy in 1753. It provided the first proof that citrus fruit could prevent and treat scurvy. After trying everything from vegetable soups to vinegar and mustard, the British Royal Navy settled on lemon and lime juice. By 1795, they were frequently using citrus to combat the symptoms of scurvy and were the first nation to do so.^[6]

This helped to dispel the myth that raw fruit and vegetables were unhealthy. Raw fruit gradually came to be accepted by the general population, and before long, experiments began to make the production of fruit more efficient.

Conducted by Thomas Andrew Knight in 1790, the first apple hybridization process was widely thought to be the first example of artificially altering the structure of a plant. The Royal Horticultural Society was established solely for the study and promotion of plants in 1804.

4 Copyright

Copyright is everywhere today. We see dozens, if not hundreds, of copyrighted and trademarked materials each day without thinking about them—everything from logos to fonts to phrases have been claimed by individuals and companies as intellectual property.

If we ask the average person what a copyright or trademark is, they would probably point to something iconic like a famous fast-food logo or a brand of designer clothing. But the history of copyright actually started with publishing long ago.

Traditionally, authors and writers were supported by patronage. Wealthy individuals—and sometimes, the government—would provide money and other services to writers they liked or respected to support their livelihoods.

By the 1700s, however, this practice was dying and authors had to find a new form of protection. To prevent authors and publishers from being taken advantage of, the British Parliament passed the Copyright Act 1709. In the Act’s own words:

Printers, Booksellers, and other Persons, have of late frequently taken the Liberty of Printing, Reprinting, and Publishing . . . Books, and other Writings, without the Consent of the Authors or Proprietors of such Books and Writings, to their very great Detriment, and too often to the Ruin of them and their Families.^[7]

The Act was the very first of its kind, and it preserved the copyright of all books published after 1710 for 14 years. If the author was still alive at the end of the 14 years, the copyright was renewed. If not, the work passed into the public domain.

3 Rise Of Cookbooks

For most of history, cookbooks and recipe books were produced for a very particular demographic: professional cooks. These men and women were employed by the wealthy to cook food for them, their families, and their guests. The oldest cookbooks in existence, dating to the Middle Ages, were nearly all written specifically for cooks in the royal household.

Over the course of the 18th century, however, more and more common people learned how to read. By the end of the century, it is estimated that around 63 percent of the British population was literate. At the same time, printing technology advanced and books became cheaper. This led to the rise of the common cookbook as we know it today.

The first modern cookbook was published in London in 1708 and had the catchy title of England’s Newest Way in all Sorts of Cookery, Pastry, and All Pickles that are fit to be used. It was written by Henry Howard, a professional cook who had worked for nobility.

But it contained guidance on cooking all manner of things—from biscuits to everyday meals—and was clearly aimed at a general audience. In the preface, he wrote that his goal was to help “those that are curious in the necessary and commendable art of cookery.”^[8]

It was exceedingly popular and had four editions in two decades. Over the course of the century, dozens more recipe books were published. They were aimed at everyone from the experienced cook to young virgins who were expected to learn the very basics of housekeeping for their future husbands.

Cookbooks steadily grew in popularity and eventually crossed to America. There, the first cookbook, American Cookery, was published in 1796.

2 Toll Roads

One of our least favorite things about modern life is the existence of toll roads. More common in some countries than others, toll roads often exist in hard-to-reach places where the only alternative to the expensive road is to spend a long time traveling down poorly maintained and sometimes private roads.

Other times, they are a way for those who are willing to pay to dodge congested roads near large population centers. An example is the M6 Toll Road near Birmingham in the UK.

Toll roads may be hated today, but they played an essential role in the birth of modern road infrastructure in early modern England. In medieval times, it was the responsibility of each individual to maintain the road in front of his property.

By the 1600s, however, the country’s roads had fallen into disrepair and were clearly in need of improvement. The government passed the first Turnpike Act in 1707. This allowed a private company to maintain a stretch of road and charge tolls on it as long as they kept the roads in good repair.

By 1750, there were over 100 private road maintenance companies, known as turnpike trusts, across the UK. The government passed laws which the turnpike trusts had to enforce, such as placing road signs showing distances to nearby towns and driving on the left side of the road.

The turnpikes led to a very simple “rules of the road” situation which became the predecessor of our modern laws today. The tolls raised by these turnpike trusts were used to pay people to enforce these rules as well as to compensate contractors for maintaining, planning, and building roads.^[9]

By 1776, there were over 500 turnpike trusts and most of the country’s main roads were looked after by turnpike trusts.

1 Engines

The modern world wouldn’t exist without engines. They drive everything from our power stations to our cars. It’s difficult to imagine how modern life would be the same in any way without engines. Without them, we’d have no way to generate a stable supply of electricity.

Although the ancient Greeks developed mechanical devices that could be considered engines today, they were too weak to serve any practical purpose and were used solely to impress visitors or to teach physics to students. The first engine to be put to practical use was the atmospheric steam engine devised by Thomas Newcomen in 1712.

While rather limited in its practical applications, it was primarily used for assisting with mining work. Hundreds of them were built across Britain and eventually Europe over the course of the 18th century. Most were employed in draining water from mineshafts.^[10]

The engine was further refined by James Watt, whose steam engine was roughly twice as efficient. His design, which he refined over the course of the 1770s, could power industrial machines without reliance on horses or water, as mills were at the time.

This freed British industry from geographical constraints, fostering the manufacturing boom that first spread across Britain and then the world. We now know this as the industrial revolution.

In many ways Britain and America are so close that they seem very familiar.

However, although they may share a common language (almost) there are some key differences between the 2 nations that travelers may not be aware of.

Movies and TV have done much to make us think that we know what life is like in other countries, but TV can only show you so much.

Here are some cultural differences you may not be aware of.

See Also: 20 Differences That Confuse Us All

10Good Morning America (And Britain)

Americans typically begin their day with a cup of coffee, either a plain ‘cup of joe’ or something fancier with frothy milk and syrups, and they consume 400 million cups a day. Britons, on the other hand, begin their day with tea. Unlike the few American tea-drinkers, 98% of British tea drinkers add milk to their tea.^[1]

While Americans may debate the relative merits of lattes and cappuccinos, Britons argue about whether to put the milk in first or last, and whether the tea should be made in a pot or a mug. Some Britons get upset if the milk is added in the wrong order. While Britain may not have elaborate tea-drinking ceremonies, such as they have in Japan, they do have Afternoon Tea, which is tea (served in a pot, with the milk in a jug, so you can please yourself). It is also accompanied by tiny cucumber sandwiches, and a Cream Tea, which is not tea at all, but a scone filled with jam and cream.^[2]

And then there is the question of whether you put the jam at the bottom, or the cream.

Which is also very important.

Apparently.

9Leave Leave Leave

Although workplaces are often very similar on both sides of the Atlantic, working practices can be very different. Americans tend to work longer hours and have fewer breaks than their counterparts in Britain. The British working day typically begins at 9.00 and finishes at 5.00, and in that time, workers will have a minimum of 30 mins for lunch, and very often an hour, as well as 2 short breaks, (tea breaks). Americans often eat their lunch while they work, whilst Britons either go out for lunch or eat away from their desks.

American workers have no automatic right to paid holidays, although around 10 days paid holidays is often offered. British workers get at least 20 days, and usually have bank holidays too, giving them 28 days a year minimum. Many employers also have incentive schemes boosting paid holidays up to 35 days or more a year.

British workers also have paid leave for sickness. Maternity leave is 39 weeks at 90% of their normal wage (and which can be divided between mother and father if they wish), with paid other leave often offered for compassionate or child-care reasons.

American employers are much better at providing benefits to their employees, especially bonuses, life insurance and retirement benefits. British employers do pay into pension funds but at a much lower rate. A few also offer private medical insurance, although that is not considered a necessity in Britain because they have access to free medical care.^[3]

8Food Glorious Food (And Drink)

At the end of a long day at work, what can be better than a night out? While it should be a pleasurable social activity, transatlantic visitors may soon find themselves confused about dining etiquette. Americans tend to tip generously, Britons tend to tip only in high-class restaurants, and then only sparingly. They never tip waitresses in diners (cafes) or bars (pubs).

If they can’t finish their meal, Americans often take home a doggy bag to eat the following day. This is accepted, and even encouraged (why waste good food, right?). Britons do not ask for doggy bags. If you find yourself in a British restaurant and you ask for one, the staff will spend 10 minutes trying to find something to put it in, and will assume that you are too poor to buy another meal.^[4]

American bars tend to have table service, whilst British pubs expect you to go to the bar. You will have to pay for each drink as you buy it, and not at the end of the night, and pubs rarely have waitresses, unless they also serve food. To attract the attention of the bar staff you are expected to stand at the bar, holding up your money and looking hopeful. If you shout your order, wave or snap your fingers, they will ignore you. Finally, if you are in a pub and someone buys you a drink, it is not a gift, it is a round, and you are expected to buy the next round.

Sliding out of buying your round is a huge social faux pas.^[5]

7Money (Ssshhhh!)

Americans may think that they are reluctant to talk about money, but compared to the British, they are just great big blabbermouths. British people never discuss how much they earn, even with close friends and family. Surveys have shown that not only would they be embarrassed to borrow money from a friend, they would also feel embarrassed about lending it, and about asking for it back if it wasn’t returned.^[6]

People who have lots of money generally behave as if they have none, and those with none, as if they have lots, though no one is willing to specify the dollar amount that they have in the bank.

Surveys have shown that over 80% of Americans think it’s perfectly fine for people to make as much money as they can. British people, however, rarely admit to being ‘rich’, usually only describing themselves as ‘comfortable’ or ‘not starving’. It’s OK to make money, as long as you never talk about it, and never spend it. If you do spend it, it must not be in an ostentatious manner. People
who do, are called ‘nouveau riche’.^[7]

Which is not a good thing.

6On the Road

Everyone knows that drivers in Britain (or America) drive on ‘wrong’ side of the road, but that is not the only difference. British cars tend to be much smaller, perhaps because gas (petrol) is so much more expensive. Over 75% of British cars are stick-shift (manual) cars, compared with 2% in America.^[8]

When you go to buy your expensive gas, you will fill your tank first and then pay for your gas, because they are very trusting. British roads are rarely straight, and towns and cities are not laid out in a grid. Rather they meander round bends, where you can’t see what’s coming.

In America, intersections are usually managed with traffic lights, whilst in Britain they have roundabouts, where the driver on each road gives-way to the driver on their right. Sometimes everyone waits until someone moves, and then the other drivers sound their horn in annoyance.^[9]

5Making Polite Conversation

Whilst it is fair to say that neither America nor Britain has a monopoly on politeness, they do have slightly different ways of showing it. Researchers have discovered that Americans favor making people feel welcome, and making them feel good, while the British go for something rather more formal.

So, they say please and thank you, a lot, but are not likely to tell you to have a good day. They may ask how you are, but only on the understanding that you don’t tell them. It is a pleasantry only, and not a serious inquiry.

Americans also seem to be more comfortable with saying what they actually mean than the British, who are famously evasive. For example, research shows that if a Briton says something is ‘quite good,’ they hate it, and, ‘it’s probably my fault’ actually means ‘it’s your fault’.^[10]

Navigating this can be tricky, particularly as, if challenged, the Briton is likely to double-down on the pretense and insist it really is his fault.

Finally, if someone says, ‘you must come round for dinner’, it does not mean, ‘come round for dinner on Friday’ or even ‘come round for dinner soon’. It just means ‘goodbye.’^[11]

4Home Sweet Home

An Englishman’s home is his castle, they say. Which is remarkably similar to the 4th Amendment articles which uphold the sanctity of a private home. What kind of home that is, however, is rather different. The overwhelming majority of British households live in brick-built houses, whereas American houses tend to be built from timber-frames. This may be because of the high degree of wet weather.

While brick-built homes are more expensive, Britons expect their homes to stand for a minimum of 100 years, and modest private houses over 200 years old are common.^[12]

Whilst rural Americans may live in houses, many city-dwellers live in apartments. Britain has a surprisingly small number of apartments, (usually called flats), even in inner cities. Britons prefer not to share amenities with their neighbors and dislike communal living spaces. Where they are forced to share a garden, for instance, it is common to find them dividing it into tiny private gardens and building a big fence.^[13]

3The Doctor Will See You Now

The differences in access to medical care is one of the major differences between life in the US and Britain. While Britons have free access to doctors and hospitals, and receive free or heavily subsidized prescriptions, they do sometimes have to wait for treatment, whereas America has a system based on insurance payments which gives fast access to health care, as long as you have paid into the system.^[14]

British people also have the option of paying into a private system in order to beat the queues, but few bother, preferring to join the waiting list for the NHS.

Even relatively wealthy people choose to wait for free healthcare rather than ‘go private’, and paying for private healthcare is often seen as ‘jumping the queue’, and therefore bad manners.^[15]

2School’s Out

America has an education system, where pupils are tested regularly and know what targets they need to hit in order to be able to progress. The British system is rather more, well, complicated. Their schools are divided into public, private, grammar and state schools. Private schools are fee paying schools, which are usually boarding schools, but may also take day students. Contrary to what you may think, public schools are also private schools, but they form are the most elite schools, and are almost always for boarder only. Grammar schools and state schools (also called comprehensives) are free schools run by the government, but grammar schools select their pupils on the basis of ability, whilst the state schools don’t.

School tends to start earlier in Britain, with children beginning part time school at the age of 3 or 4 and full time at 5, with shorter summer holidays – 6 weeks as opposed to around 10 – 12 weeks in America. Almost all British schools insist that students wear a uniform, with a tie, whilst American students usually wear whatever they like.

Pupils take exams at 16 and 18 (if they stay that long), but do not have to take standardized tests at any other time. The overall educational attainment of students is roughly equivalent, however, students in American schools have a much larger number of extra-curricular activities. British schools tend to have a soccer team, a netball team (girls’ basketball) and maybe a chess club, while American schools offer a huge range of outside activities for kids to try.^[16]

1Three Houses and a Senate

One of the biggest differences is the system of government. Whilst both countries have 2 legislative bodies (The House of Representatives and the Senate vs The House of Commons and The House of Lords), the leaders of the country are elected differently. America has a separate presidential election, while Britain’s Prime Minister is simply the leader of the party with the greatest number of seats.

While America elects representatives to both houses, Britain’s House of Lords is not an elected chamber. It is made up of hereditary peers, bishops from the Church of England, and people who have been appointed as a life peer by the Queen.^[17]

Each session of parliament begins with The Queens Speech. Before she delivers her speech, one MP from the Commons is kidnapped and held prisoner at Buckingham Palace, in case they try to attack her. She delivers the speech from the House of Lords because she is not allowed in the Commons, and she sends someone in fancy dress, called Black Rod, to summon the MPs to her.

The door is always slammed in his face.^[18]

Which, OK, seems a bit odd, but then the American senate does have a broken gavel that they carry into each session but never use, so it evens out in the end.

About The Author: Ward Hazell is a freelance writer and travel writer, and is currently also studying for a PhD in English Literature

2019 has seen a major rise in protest action throughout Britain. Over the past few months climate change activists have been out in full force. In April campaigners from political movement Extinction Rebellion blocked numerous roads and train lines in London; Using tactics that included gluing themselves to a lorry. Elsewhere crowds of young people have been following in the footsteps of Greta Thunberg and going on strike to demand that parliament declare a climate emergency.

These environmental rallies are hardly the first protests to happen in Britain, nor will it be the last judging from current enthusiasm. The divisive debate around exiting the European Union has sparked a number of marches from both pro-Leave and pro-Remain forces. Movements around a wide variety campaigns; Everything from Palestinian solidarity to the incarceration of Tommy Robinson – are a semi-regular sight in some city centers.

Britain’s history has been shaped by mass action and protest. Whether you think of the people involved as brave fighters taking a stand against worthwhile causes or just needless time wasters. Here are ten times that activists rose up in Britain.

10. General Strike, May 1926

The best part of a century ago, over one and a half million British workers took industrial action against insufficient wages and long work hours. On May 3rd 1926, a large contingency of coal miners made the decision to go on strike. Their bosses were making plans to slash their pay by 13%, whilst also adding an extra hour to their shifts.

In an act of solidarity, masses of other workers joined the miners in striking. Dock workers, builders, electricians and many more took to picket lines across the country. Without drivers, the trains and buses were brought to a standstill. Police and strikers clashed violently. A warship was sent to Newcastle to aggressively intimidate the strikers back to work.

In the end Britain’s Trade Union Congress brought the strikes to an end without any victories. By November miners were either unemployed or had returned to work under worse conditions. In the aftermath of the struggle prime minister Stanley Baldwin passed a law forbidding mass picketing, which is still in place today.

9. The Chartists, 1848

Nowadays almost every adult with British citizenship has the right to vote in elections; (Excluding prisoners and some people involved in the upper echelons of parliament). Historically this has not always been the case. From 1832 only 18% of adult men were allowed to vote. The working classes, who did not own property, were still without suffrage.

The Chartist movement aimed to bring this to an end. Their six key demands were listed in the People’s Charter, which called on votes for all men over 21 and votes by secret ballot amongst other things.

In 1848, having already been rejected twice, the Chartists presented their petition to Parliament. The petition had an estimated six million signatures, or so they claimed. The 20,000 Chartists who assembled on Kennington Common were met by 8,000 soldiers, and their petition was rejected once again.

In spite of this defeat many of those in Parliament still feared that the movement would escalate into a revolution. Riots had sprung up in Manchester and Preston. And at the time vast swathes of the working class were living in poverty and hunger. Several Reform Acts were passed throughout the remainder of the nineteenth century. And, by 1918 all but one of their demands had been met.

8. Poll Tax Riots, March 31st 1990

In her final few years in office, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher introduced a flat-rate poll tax – officially known as the Community Charge. First instigated in 1989, the tax was met by monumental opposition. Several different campaigns urged the public to refuse payment. Droves of activists took the streets to confront what they saw as a vicious attack on the working class.

Following on from various active demonstrations that had broken out in some pockets of the country, a mass protest was scheduled for March 31st 1990. On the day more than 200,000 incensed Brits marched across central London demanding an end to the poll tax. The police reacted with a vast display of force. Officers on horseback charged at the crowds, whilst others attacked the protesters with riot shields and truncheons. In the face of this provocation, the protesters responded by hurling impromptu projectiles like bottles, sticks and placards. The total 339 protesters were arrested.

In response to the public’s hostility, the Community Charge was dropped in 1993 after only a few years and replaced with the property-based Council Tax system.

7. Stop The War, February 15th 2003

The single biggest march ever to happen in Britain. In 2003 somewhere between 750,000 and two million protesters marched across London. The march – which was held in conjunction with hundreds of similar demonstrations globally – aimed to take a stand against the planned invasion of Iraq. Protestors flocked to the capital from 250 towns and cities to join in with the rally. Waving pro-peace banners and urging Prime Minister Tony Blair not to go to war.

Despite the enormous turn-out the march proved unsuccessful in preventing war. In March that year British troops carried out a ferocious incursion of the Iraqi province Basra. Bombs from coalition forces rained down on Baghdad on the spurious claim that Saddam Hussein was stockpiling weapons of mass destruction. Years later Iraq remains ravaged by conflict, which has been exacerbated since the emergence of militant organizations such as ISIL.

6. Student Protests, November and December 2010

In 2010 the British government announced plans to triple university tuition fees to £9,000 and abolish the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) for college students. Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, who had previously promised to oppose any attempts to hike tuition fees, refused to take a stand against the proposed raise.

Outraged by the decision, tens of thousands of students came out in protest against the education funding cuts. Towards the end of 2010 the National Union of Students and University and College Union held a series of demonstrations, particularly centered on London. The most prominent marches saw activists smashing windows, clashing with the police and on one occasion storming a government building in the centre of London.

Ultimately Parliament refused to meet the protesters demands. The cost of an undergraduate degree for home students now stands at up to £9,250 per year in England and EMA has faded to a long distant memory. On top of this the maintenance grant for students from low-income backgrounds was scrapped in 2016, and the education budget cuts show no sign of slowing down.

5. Brixton Riots, April 1981

Brixton in Lambeth, South London is one of the most multicultural and poorest districts in Britain. Over the past seventy years a large population of immigrants, particularly Irish, West Indian and Afro-Caribbean, have settled in the area. In the 1980s poverty there was rife. The borough of Lambeth was marred by poorly built and often dangerous housing and the levels of employment were worryingly low.

By spring 1981, following a step up in the use of stop and search, the strained relationship between black youths and white police officers in Brixton was threatening to spill over. These tensions reached breaking point on Friday April 10th 1981 when a group of black locals attacked a police vehicle, launching glass bottles at the windscreen.

Disturbances escalated over the course of the weekend. Protesters were set upon with police dogs, police vans were attacked with petrol bombs and bricks, and over a hundred businesses and vehicles sustained damage. An inquiry into the violence recommended that police should liaise more with Brixton locals to ease the animosity.

4. Peasants’ Revolt, 1381

Another British rebellion sparked in opposition to a poll tax, the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381 saw artisans, villeins, laborers and the working classes conspire against young King Richard II. The protests broke out in May of that year and by June 13th had spread to the capital. Under the command of Wat Tyler, English rebels stormed into London, slaughtering several merchants and demolishing the palace of the Duke of Lancaster.

Over the following days the Archbishop of Canterbury Simon Sudbury was killed, as was Wat Tyler. However the momentum was short lived. After only a few days the king persuaded the rebel army to leave London, and by June the movement had been extinguished altogether.

In response to the revolt Richard II vowed to eliminate forced labor and encourage free trade, but he quickly went back on his promises. The only real success of the Peasants’ Revolt was to halt the spread of the poll tax.

3. Northern Ireland Conflict, 1968-1998

For thirty years nationalist and loyalist forces in Northern Ireland faced off in a volatile armed conflict that, at times, verged on civil war. During the so-called ‘Troubles’, Irish nationalists and other republican movements, most notably the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), fought against the Ulster constabulary and British Army for a unified Ireland. Meanwhile unionists and loyalists clashed with the republicans in favor of continuing the political relationship between Ireland and Britain.

Violent action including rioting, house burnings, shootings and bombings were performed by all sides. In 1972 alone, 480 people died at the hands of the conflict. On January 30 of that year the British Army massacred fourteen republicans in the city of Derry. This attack has since come to be known as ‘Bloody Sunday‘ and paved the way for a step up in militancy from all sides. Car bombings became a favored tactic of the IRA, who had killed over 100 British soldiers by the end of the year. In total more than 2,000 people died over the course of the 1970s, and despite several attempted ceasefires fierce battles continued for years afterwards.

Officially the conflict was brought to an end in 1998 with the Good Friday Agreement. That said, in recent years a New IRA has started to emerge, signaling that disputes over the status of the six counties are far from over.

2. Miners’ Strike, 1984-1985

For Britain the 1980s were a time of intense political action. Of all the movements that stood against the neoliberal policies of Margaret Thatcher‘s government, the miners’ strike is one of the most commonly remembered.

On March 6th 1984, it was announced by the National Coal Board (NCB) that twenty pits would be closed down, putting 20,000 workers out of a job. In response miners called a national strike, laying down their tools and demanding job security.

The constabulary were relentless in trying to quash some of the striking miners, and their extreme actions remain a contentious topic to this day. One mass picket line in the Yorkshire village of Orgreave was charged by police riding horses and dressed in riot gear. On the other hand the strikers could also be brutal in their treatment of ‘scabs’; Anyone who decided to cross on the picket lines into work. A taxi driver died in South Wales. He died after a concrete post was dropped onto his car for driving a pair of scabs to the Merthyr Vale Colliery.

By the start of 1985, unable to afford to continue the industrial action, large numbers of miners were forced to head back to work. Mass pit closures followed and the coal mining industry fell into a rapid decline. Kellingley Colliery, the last remaining deep coal mine in Britain, ceased operation in December 2015.

1. The Suffragettes, 1903-1918

The Suffragettes were not the first movement to demand votes for women in Britain. However, they played a vital role in ensuring that demand was delivered. In 1903 the Pankhurst family; Mother Emmeline and her daughters Christabel and Sylvia – started up the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU), one of the most militant organizations in the history of British politics.

For the first few years the Suffragettes’ actions were actually fairly non-violent. The main shift came in 1905 when Christabel Pankhurst and Annie Kenney forcibly disrupted a political meeting in Manchester. From this point forwards the campaign became far more extreme in its actions. Protesters chained themselves to the gates of Buckingham Palace. They set churches ablaze, smashed windows on Oxford Street and attacked politicians all in the name of securing women’s suffrage. Their most notorious act of protest came in June 1913, when activist Emily Wilding Davison died after throwing herself under the horse of King George V.

By the end of the First World War suffrage had been granted to all women over 30 with property. While many in the movement saw this as a resounding success, Sylvia Pankhurst continued to fight. Her East London Federation believed in fighting for decent rights for women of all classes. Whereas other movements at the time were noticeably centered on the middle classes.

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