A brief look at some of Britain's history

It was over 10,000 years ago that the glaciers eventually left the British Isles and Stone Age man began to explore the virgin forests that advanced in the wake of the ice. They came across a land bridge that linked Britain to Europe until the break through of the North Sea some 3,000 years later. They lived in small groups in caves and survived by hunting, fishing and discovering that some plants were safe and good to eat. Their tools were primitive, made of stone and weapons the same, a lot of these have been discovered in deposits of gravel and underground caves, more so in regions such as Derbyshire where the main material is limestone.

Later came the New Stone Age (Neolithic Period) when people from across Europe, mainly the Mediterranean lands began to enter Britain. These were small dark skinned men with long heads and long noses and these became the first farmers - herders of sheep and cattle, they also grew wheat and barley and had mastered the art of pottery. Their culture being based mainly on the use of stone. Flint factories began to appear, one notable one was Grimes Graves in Norfolk and their burial places, called long barrows can be found scattered on the downlands.

In c1800BC more invaders came to our shores and they brought the skill of working in bronze and built large stone circles from Salisbury up to the Ornkney Islands. These circles, called 'henges' were a type of calendar and used to calculate the right time for sowing and harvesting, and was based on the position of the sun and moon. They left behind many pathways across the ridges of hills, Foss Way and Icnield Way may have come about through these people.

Iron Age skills of the Celts

Britain, as the writers of the classical world describe it, was at this time a far off land at the edge of the world that was covered in mists and mystery. But this land attracted many migrations of people from the continental land mass.

The first of these large scale migrations came around 500BC with people moving westward due to the growing population  of their homelands by the Rhine. These people were the Celts and they brought a new technology with them, the art of working in iron. The Celts became miners and traders as well as cattle farmers and also bred horses. The main Celtic elements today can be found in the hill country of the North and West of the land, these were rugged and dangerous lands and these people of the Iron Age retreated to them from the lowlands of southern England, when they were invaded, their language though still lives on today in the Welsh tongue.

In 43AD the Romans invaded but this was not a huge migration but an occupation by a small group of highly organised conquerors. They ruled the land with an iron fist and subjugated the native peoples and used their resources as well as dominating them with their superior administration and force. The Romans built roads and new towns and cities, their place names lingering on still today such as the ending of '-Chester' such as in Winchester, Chichester and Silchester, and stemmed from the Latin castra which meant camp.

But this did not suit the Celts and with the help of Germanic raiders they broke the Roman hold 400 years later. The Ango-Saxon people who then started to colonise the east coast built villages all over the English Plain and again these places still exist today, place names ending in '-ing', '-ton', and '-ham'. These people were blue eyed and fair haired and it was through them that Christianity began. There are many Saxon churches still being used in England today, and the two best preserved can be found at Bradwell and Greensted in Essex.

Castles of the French Norsemen

This new breed of people, the Anglo-Saxons later faced invasion by the Danes and Norsemen, the former setting up colonies in the Shetland and Orkney Islands and later spread down the west coast. They in turn left their marks in the names of places, eg. 'fell', 'beck', 'gill' and 'scar'. They established their settlements called 'thwaites' by clearing the forests.

There was also another group of Norsemen who settled in that part of France which became known as Normandy and they added French refinements to the hardiness of their Viking ancestors.

But the Saxons could not repel the Norman invaders and after William defeated Harold in 1066 these Normans built many strongholds of which there are quite a few around today. They kept close ties with their homeland and this led to the extension of monastic life and the building of abbeys, the foundations of market towns and large baronial estates.

The Normans were the last military invaders of Britain and this began the evolution of a language that was common to all, The French and Latin parts began to mix with the Germanic and the Celtic to make this islands tongue one of the most complex in the world, a characteristic that also included its people.

(Transcribed from the Automobile Associations book: "Illustrated Guide to Britain")