Table of Contents
Cover
Copyright
Dedication
PREFACE
MAP OF ENGLAND
THE ENGLISH COUNTIES
Bedfordshire
Father of English Clock-Making ∗ First English Best-Seller
∗ Maypole Dancing ∗ Morris Dancing
BEDFORDSHIRE FOLK
Berkshire
House of Windsor ∗ Windsor Castle ∗ Oldest Order of Chivalry
∗ St George’s Chapel ∗ Windsor Town ∗ England’s Patron Saint
∗ The First English Minimum Wage
BERKSHIRE FOLK
Buckinghamshire
Chiltern Hundreds ∗ An English Invention ∗ Freedom of Conscience
∗ Greatest English Poem ∗ Hellfire ∗ English Hymnal ∗ Pancake Race
BUCKINGHAMSHIRE FOLK
Cambridgeshire
The Most Beautiful Mile in the World ∗ Cambridge Science ∗ Spies
∗ Footlights ∗ Books ∗ Chimes ∗ Boat Race ∗ Peas Please
CAMBRIDGESHIRE FOLK
Cheshire
England’s Favourite Architecture ∗ Black-and-White ∗ Cranford
∗ Oldest Carillon in England ∗ Jodrell Bank
CHESHIRE FOLK
Cornwall
King Arthur ∗ Cradle of Wireless ∗ Come to Good ∗ A Cornish Eccentric
∗ Jigging Jogging Everywhere ∗ Pasty
CORNISH FOLK
Cumberland
Border Town ∗ Georgian Town Planning ∗ Cumberland Delicacies
CUMBERLAND FOLK
Derbyshire
Lady with the Lamp ∗ Babington Plot ∗ Well Dressing
DERBYSHIRE FOLK
Devon
First Colonialist ∗ Revenge ∗ An Elizabethan Pirate ∗ Fine English Carpets
DEVON FOLK
Dorset
Jurassic Coastline ∗ First English Trade Union ∗ Dorset’s Own Writer
∗ First Planned English Village ∗ First Smoke ∗ The Face of England
DORSET FOLK
Durham
County Palatine ∗ Finest Norman Building ∗ Sanctuary ∗ Never Fell to the Scots
∗ Prince Bishops ∗ Third University ∗ Only Oriental Museum
DURHAM FOLK
Essex
First Town ∗ Biggest Keep ∗ Captain of the Mayflower ∗ Fine Words
∗ Triangular Tower ∗ First in Brick ∗ Jam Today
ESSEX FOLK
Gloucestershire
Dark Deeds ∗ Birthplace of Modern Conservation
Biggest Norman Tower ∗ Cheese Rolling ∗ Champagne
∗ Manors Houses
GLOUCESTERSHIRE FOLK
Hampshire
First English Capital ∗ Longest Cathedral ∗ St Swithun’s Day
∗ Manners Maketh Man ∗ A Great Hall ∗ The Round Table
∗ England’s Oldest Charity ∗ Weights and Measures
∗ The English National Game
HAMPSHIRE FOLK
Herefordshire
Cider Country ∗ Member for Cider ∗ Biggest Vat ∗ Wassailing
HEREFORDSHIRE FOLK
Hertfordshire
First Garden City ∗ First New Town ∗ House of Fun ∗ Paper Trail
∗ Royal Spin
HERTFORDSHIRE FOLK
Huntingdonshire
Cromwell Country ∗ Presidential Ancestors ∗ A Unique Community
HUNTINGDONSHIRE FOLK
Kent
The Oldest English Church ∗ Oldest School ∗ Biggest Norman Crypt
∗ Primate of All England ∗ Maidstone ∗ First in Flight ∗ Staple Drink
∗ Cockles and Winkles
KENT FOLK
Lancashire
∗ Gladstone and Hitler ∗ Hotpot ∗ Greatest Steeplechase
LANCASHIRE FOLK
Leicestershire
Unspeakable ∗ An English Sport ∗ Red Cheese
LEICESTERSHIRE FOLK
Lincolnshire
A Precious Piece of Architecture ∗ Tallest Building in the World ∗ Angel Choir
∗ Polygonal Parliament ∗ An Old Town ∗ First Tank ∗ An English Order
∗ A Princess of Wales
LINCOLNSHIRE FOLK
Middlesex
World’s Oldest Film Studios ∗ Ealing Comedies ∗ The Longitude Problem
∗ Early Cartoonist ∗ G and T
MIDDLESEX FOLK
Norfolk
The First English Holiday Camp ∗ Early English Brickwork ∗ Paston Letters
∗ First Steeplechase ∗ Norfolk Terrier
NORFOLK FOLK
Northamptonshire
Church Architecture ∗ Saxon ∗ Norman ∗ Early English ∗ Decorated
∗ Perpendicular
NORTHAMPTONSHIRE FOLK
Northumberland
Northern Saint ∗ Holy Island ∗ The Man Who Invented the 20th Century
Northumberland Greys ∗ Tea
NORTHUMBERLAND FOLK
Nottinghamshire
Robin Hood ∗ Major Oak
NOTTINGHAMSHIRE FOLK
Oxfordshire
England’s Smallest Cathedral ∗ Oxford Culture ∗ Oxford Martyrs ∗ An Early English Capital ∗ An Early English Family ∗ England’s Oldest State School ∗ Provisions ∗ National Gallery of Words
OXFORDSHIRE FOLK
Rutland
Amazing ∗ The Pox
RUTLAND FOLK
Shropshire
Birth of Evolution ∗ An Ape or a Bishop ∗ Empire Builder
SHROPSHIRE FOLK
Somerset
Holy Grail ∗ Holy Thorn ∗ Avalon ∗ England’s Smallest Cathedral City
∗ Oldest English Street ∗ Uppity Swans
SOMERSET FOLK
Staffordshire
Horn Dance ∗ Crooked House ∗ Anchors Aweigh ∗ Branston Pickle
∗ High House ∗ Bull Terrier
STAFFORDSHIRE FOLK
Suffolk
Royal Saxon Treasure ∗ Benjamin Britten ∗ Aldeburgh Festival
∗ Suffolk Punch ∗ Author of Empire ∗ Old English Organ
SUFFOLK FOLK
Surrey
The King’s Stone ∗ Cradle of English Liberty ∗ England’s Biggest Day Out
∗ An Ancient English Storybook
SURREY FOLK
Sussex
The End of Anglo-Saxon England ∗ Class ∗ Domesday Book
∗ English Country House ∗ The Waves Rush In
∗ Last Resting Place of the Saxon English
SUSSEX FOLK
Vale of The White Horse
England’s Oldest Hill Figure ∗ Dragon Hill ∗ Wayland’s Smithy
∗ England’s Oldest Road ∗ First True King of England ∗ English Beginnings
WHITE HORSE FOLK
Warwickshire
The Bard ∗ His Ancestors ∗ His Childhood ∗ His Marriage ∗ His Religion
∗ New Place ∗ George Eliot ∗ First Labouring MP
WARWICKSHIRE FOLK
Westmorland
England’s Biggest Horse Fair ∗ Smallest County Town
∗ England’s Oldest Topiary
WESTMORLAND FOLK
Wiltshire
First King of All England ∗ Flying Monk
∗ Last Person in England to be Eaten by a Tiger ∗ Oldest Hotel
∗ Early English Church ∗ Bridge Chapel ∗ A Queen’s Retreat
WILTSHIRE FOLK
Worcestershire
Music All Around Us ∗ Battle of Worcester ∗ Train Sets
∗ Pubs and Pub Signs
Yorkshire
House of York ∗ Northern Capital ∗ Largest Gothic Cathedral
∗ First Seaside Resort ∗ English Takeaway ∗ First Tourist Attraction
∗ Cradle of the English Church ∗ Oldest English Classic ∗ Pudding ∗ Terriers
YORKSHIRE FOLK
Gazetteer
Index of People
Index of Places
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Published in 2008 by Ebury Press, an imprint of Ebury Publishing
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Text © Christopher Winn 2008
Illustrations © Mai Osawa 2008
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ISBN: 9780091926731
For Uncle Peter
PREFACE
THE ENGLISH are a remarkable and singular people. They owe much to being an island race and much to the beauty and landscape of their island. They owe much to all those who have settled in England and fallen in love with this uncommon land. Celts, Romans, Jutes, Angles, Saxons, Danes, Jews, Normans, Huguenots, Flemings and Walloons – the English have borrowed something from all these peoples, and have forged the disparate elements together in a very English way, be it in language, customs, identity or character.
In return the English have given much back. The English language, the language of Shakespeare, more widely spoken than any other, ‘Parliamentary’ democracy, ‘the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried,’ according to Winston Churchill, cricket, football, rugby, the Industrial Revolution, railways, the pub, the class system, Georgian architecture, Alice in Wonderland, afternoon tea.
This book travels to every corner of England to discover the people and the flavour that each has contributed to England and the English. You cannot pin down or define the English, you can only listen to their stories, learn something of their ways and enjoy the experience.
THE ENGLISH COUNTIES
THE ENGLISH CHARACTER is defined by county as much as by anything. A Yorkshireman is instantly recognisable from a Cornishman, a Geordie from a Man of Kent, by accent, by outlook, by appearance.
Hence, I Never Knew That About the English is divided into the 39 historic English counties and the Vale of the White Horse – counties that come down to us from the dawn of England, that have moulded their inhabitants, conferred distinctive characteristics and blessings upon them, presented them with different challenges and loyalties.
The story of the English people is intertwined with the English counties, and the bureaucrats have sought in vain to separate them. I would not dare to try – nor would I wish to.
I Never Knew That About The English
Christopher Winn
ILLUSTRATIONS BY
Mai Osawa
CONTENTS
PREFACE
MAP OF ENGLAND
THE ENGLISH COUNTIES
Bedfordshire
Father of English Clock-Making ∗ First English Best-Seller
∗ Maypole Dancing ∗ Morris Dancing
BEDFORDSHIRE FOLK
Berkshire
House of Windsor ∗ Windsor Castle ∗ Oldest Order of Chivalry
∗ St George’s Chapel ∗ Windsor Town ∗ England’s Patron Saint
∗ The First English Minimum Wage
BERKSHIRE FOLK
Buckinghamshire
Chiltern Hundreds ∗ An English Invention ∗ Freedom of Conscience
∗ Greatest English Poem ∗ Hellfire ∗ English Hymnal ∗ Pancake Race
BUCKINGHAMSHIRE FOLK
Cambridgeshire
The Most Beautiful Mile in the World ∗ Cambridge Science ∗ Spies
∗ Footlights ∗ Books ∗ Chimes ∗ Boat Race ∗ Peas Please
CAMBRIDGESHIRE FOLK
Cheshire
England’s Favourite Architecture ∗ Black-and-White ∗ Cranford
∗ Oldest Carillon in England ∗ Jodrell Bank
CHESHIRE FOLK
Cornwall
King Arthur ∗ Cradle of Wireless ∗ Come to Good ∗ A Cornish Eccentric
∗ Jigging Jogging Everywhere ∗ Pasty
CORNISH FOLK
Cumberland
Border Town ∗ Georgian Town Planning ∗ Cumberland Delicacies
CUMBERLAND FOLK
Derbyshire
Lady with the Lamp ∗ Babington Plot ∗ Well Dressing
DERBYSHIRE FOLK
Devon
First Colonialist ∗ Revenge ∗ An Elizabethan Pirate ∗ Fine English Carpets
DEVON FOLK
Dorset
Jurassic Coastline ∗ First English Trade Union ∗ Dorset’s Own Writer
∗ First Planned English Village ∗ First Smoke ∗ The Face of England
DORSET FOLK
Durham
County Palatine ∗ Finest Norman Building ∗ Sanctuary ∗ Never Fell to the Scots
∗ Prince Bishops ∗ Third University ∗ Only Oriental Museum
DURHAM FOLK
Essex
First Town ∗ Biggest Keep ∗ Captain of the Mayflower ∗ Fine Words
∗ Triangular Tower ∗ First in Brick ∗ Jam Today
ESSEX FOLK
Gloucestershire
Dark Deeds ∗ Birthplace of Modern Conservation
Biggest Norman Tower ∗ Cheese Rolling ∗ Champagne
∗ Manors Houses
GLOUCESTERSHIRE FOLK
Hampshire
First English Capital ∗ Longest Cathedral ∗ St Swithun’s Day
∗ Manners Maketh Man ∗ A Great Hall ∗ The Round Table
∗ England’s Oldest Charity ∗ Weights and Measures
∗ The English National Game
HAMPSHIRE FOLK
Herefordshire
Cider Country ∗ Member for Cider ∗ Biggest Vat ∗ Wassailing
HEREFORDSHIRE FOLK
Hertfordshire
First Garden City ∗ First New Town ∗ House of Fun ∗ Paper Trail
∗ Royal Spin
HERTFORDSHIRE FOLK
Huntingdonshire
Cromwell Country ∗ Presidential Ancestors ∗ A Unique Community
HUNTINGDONSHIRE FOLK
Kent
The Ol
dest English Church ∗ Oldest School ∗ Biggest Norman Crypt
∗ Primate of All England ∗ Maidstone ∗ First in Flight ∗ Staple Drink
∗ Cockles and Winkles
KENT FOLK
Lancashire
House of Lancaster ∗ Scousers ∗ Mersey Beat dLiver Building ∗ Two Cathedrals
∗ Gladstone and Hitler ∗ Hotpot ∗ Greatest Steeplechase
LANCASHIRE FOLK
Leicestershire
Unspeakable ∗ An English Sport ∗ Red Cheese
LEICESTERSHIRE FOLK
Lincolnshire
A Precious Piece of Architecture ∗ Tallest Building in the World ∗ Angel Choir
∗ Polygonal Parliament ∗ An Old Town ∗ First Tank ∗ An English Order
∗ A Princess of Wales
LINCOLNSHIRE FOLK
Middlesex
World’s Oldest Film Studios ∗ Ealing Comedies ∗ The Longitude Problem
∗ Early Cartoonist ∗ G and T
MIDDLESEX FOLK
Norfolk
The First English Holiday Camp ∗ Early English Brickwork ∗ Paston Letters
∗ First Steeplechase ∗ Norfolk Terrier
NORFOLK FOLK
Northamptonshire
Church Architecture ∗ Saxon ∗ Norman ∗ Early English ∗ Decorated
∗ Perpendicular
NORTHAMPTONSHIRE FOLK
Northumberland
Northern Saint ∗ Holy Island ∗ The Man Who Invented the 20th Century
Northumberland Greys ∗ Tea
NORTHUMBERLAND FOLK
Nottinghamshire
Robin Hood ∗ Major Oak
NOTTINGHAMSHIRE FOLK
Oxfordshire
England’s Smallest Cathedral ∗ Oxford Culture ∗ Oxford Martyrs ∗ An Early English Capital ∗ An Early English Family ∗ England’s Oldest State School ∗ Provisions ∗ National Gallery of Words
OXFORDSHIRE FOLK
Rutland
Amazing ∗ The Pox
RUTLAND FOLK
Shropshire
Birth of Evolution ∗ An Ape or a Bishop ∗ Empire Builder
SHROPSHIRE FOLK