Architecture

    The architecture of the United Kingdom, or British architecture, consists of an eclectic combination of architectural styles, ranging from those that predate the creation of the United Kingdom, such as Roman, to 21st century contemporary. England has seen the most influential developments, though Ireland, Scotland, and Wales have each fostered unique styles and played leading roles in the international history of architecture. Although there are prehistoric and classical structures in the United Kingdom, British architectural history effectively begins with the first Anglo-Saxon Christian churches, built soon after Augustine of Canterbury arrived in Great Britain in 597. 

Norman architecture was built on a vast scale throughout Great Britain and Ireland from the 11th century onwards in the form of castles and churches to help impose Norman authority upon their dominions. English Gothic architecture, which flourished between 1180 until around 1520, was initially imported from France, but quickly developed its own unique qualities.

Throughout the United Kingdom, secular medieval architecture has left a legacy of large stone castles, with a concentration being found lining both sides of the Anglo-Scottish border, dating from the Wars of Scottish Independence of the 14th century. The invention of gunpowder and cannons made castles redundant, and the English Renaissance that followed facilitated development of new artistic styles for domestic architecture: Tudor style, English Baroque, Queen Anne Style, and Palladian. Georgian, Scots Baronial and Neoclassical architecture advanced after the Scottish Enlightenment, and since the 1930s various modernist forms appeared, though traditionalist resistance movements continue with support from Charles, Prince of Wales.

onic architectural styles from the late 15th century onwards.

British architecture has evolved hugely over the centuries, with movements and styles from years gone by still having vast appeal today. Let’s take a look at some of Britain’s major, most prominent and most ic

Jacobean British architecture

Tudor British architectural style

Tudor
The Tudor period was the final phase of Medieval architecture in Britain, and covers the era between the late 15th and early 17th centuries. Typical features of a Tudor building may include masonry chimneys, grouped windows, half-timbering and gable roofs.

Baroque English house

Baroque
Baroque architecture was popularised during the late 17th century and was regarded as a highly elaborate take on Classicism. The late 1690s saw the appearance of the first Grand Baroque country houses, with the most iconic figures of the movement including Sir Christopher Wren, Sir John Vanbrugh and Nicholas Hawksmoor.

Georgian Architecture

Georgian
The Georgian era of architecture lasted between around 1780 and 1820. It was influenced by Roman architecture, and usually involved classical exteriors and elaborate interiors. Walls were normally painted in a single colour and ceilings were divided into sections. Colours characterising the Georgian period included lavender, pink, pea green and light blue. Other characteristics included high ceilings and panelled doors.

Early 19th century architecture inspired by the buildings of the era is referred to as ‘Neo-Georgian architecture’. Prior to the Georgian era, Palladian architecture had been on the rise. This movement was inspired by Venetian architect Andrea Palladio and briefly became popular amongst the British in the mid-17th century before the Civil War took place and the country entered a period of austerity. However, it once again became an architectural force across Europe in the early 18th century.

Victorian mock gothic architecture

Victorian
The Victorian era consisted of various British architectural styles, including Medieval and Renaissance. Tudor and mock-Gothic building styles enjoyed a revival, and the early part of the period involved highly-elaborate detailing. Approaches to architecture became simpler towards the end of the era.

The Industrial Revolution enabled architects to make use of glass and iron. Victorian roofs often had steep pitches, which made them ideal for loft conversions. The era is synonymous with terracotta tiles, bay sash windows, multi-coloured brickwork, sizeable mantelpieces for ornaments, white painted woodwork and cast iron gates.

Edwardian British architecture

Edwardian
The Edwardian period covers 1901-1918 in terms of architectural trends. It took influence for the Georgian and medieval eras. Homes were given larger frontages and therefore extra room for halls. Colours became lighter, with walls not attracting as much dirt as previously. Patterns became less elaborate and complex. Typical features of Edwardian buildings include small paned leaded windows, rough cast walls, half timbering, wooden porches and bare floorboards with rugs sitting on them.

British Art Deco architecture

Art Deco
The Art Deco period lasted between around 1925 and 1939, and was synonymous with modernity, innovation, harmony and simplicity. The era had two parts: Zigzag Moderne in the 1920s and Streamline Moderne in the following decade. Many courthouses, schools and other public buildings adopted this style in the era, with many Art Deco-inspired buildings not actually being unveiled until after the war. Features included small round windows, curved corner walls, flat roofs, metal railings, zigzags and chevrons.

1930s British architectural style

1930s
The 1930s saw vast numbers of people taking advantage of greater transport links and relocating to rural settings outside of towns and cities. The homes built in this era came in a variety of different British architectural styles, with buildings taking inspiration from the Victorian era and the Tudor period. Buildings deemed to be modern in style often featured curves and uncomplicated lines and were built from steel and cement. Most houses were smaller than older homes. Bungalows became popular during this period, including single level bungalows and bungalows with bedrooms built into the roof. A large number of flats were built in the 1930s. Popular features included oak doors, red clay roof tiles, false beams and oak panelling interiors.

1960s house style

Post-WWII
The initial post-war era was characterised by a break from the past with little inspiration being taken from older building styles. However, by the mid-1960s, enthusiasm for older styles had been reignited and interest in preserving older buildings was on the rise.

A growing number of old buildings were being renovated and modernised without their most charming features being dispensed with. The mid-to-late sixties was the era of Postmodern Architecture. This style was seen as an attempt to improve upon Modernism or the International Style, which was often seen as cold, ugly and merely functional, rather than pleasant and welcoming. Brutalism also became popular in the post-war era. This movement was based on exposed concrete and retains a large number of admirers, but many buildings created in this style have since been demolished.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Architecture_of_the_United_Kingdom source of information

British Literature

British literature is literature from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Isle of Man, and Channel Islands. This article covers British literature in the English language. Anglo-Saxon (Old English) literature is included, and there is some discussion of Latin and Anglo-Norman literature, where literature in these languages relate to the early development of the English language and literature.

 There is also some brief discussion of major figures who wrote in Scots, but the main discussion is in the various Scottish literature articles.
The article Literature in the other languages of Britain focuses on the literatures written in the other languages that are, and have been, used in Britain. There are also articles on these various literatures: Latin literature in Britain, Anglo-Norman, Cornish, Guernésiais, Jèrriais, Latin, Manx, Scottish Gaelic, Welsh, etc.

Irish writers have played an important part in the development of literature in England and Scotland, but though the whole of Ireland was politically part of the United Kingdom between January 1801 and December 1922, it can be controversial to describe Irish literature as British. For some this includes works by authors from Northern Ireland.

https://english.uchicago.edu/british-literature source of information

History of The British Isles

The British Isles have witnessed intermittent periods of competition and cooperation between the people that occupy the various parts of Great Britain, the Isle of Man, Ireland, the Bailiwick of Guernsey, the Bailiwick of Jersey and the smaller adjacent islands.

Today, the British Isles contain two sovereign states: the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom. There are also three Crown dependencies: Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man. The United Kingdom comprises England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, each country having its own history, with all but Northern Ireland having been independent states at one point. The history of the formation of the United Kingdom is very complex.

The British monarch was head of state of all of the countries of the British Isles from the Union of the Crowns in 1603 until the enactment of the Republic of Ireland Act in 1949, although the term "British Isles" was not used in 1603. Additionally, since the independence of most of Ireland, historians of the region often avoid the term British Isles due to the complexity of relations between the peoples of the archipelago (see: Terminology of the British Isles). he British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic off the north-western coast of continental Europe that consist of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Hebrides and over six thousand smaller isles.[8]They have a total area of about 315,159 km2[5] and a combined population of almost 72 million, and include two sovereign states, the Republic of Ireland (which covers roughly five-sixths of Ireland)[9], and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The islands of Alderney, Jersey, Guernsey, and Sark, and their neighbouring smaller islands, are sometimes also taken to be part of the British Isles,[10] even though, as islands off the coast of France, they do not form part of the archipelago.[11]

human activit]y has since cleared the vast majority of forest cover. The region was re-inhabited after the last glacial period of Quaternary glaciation, by 12,000 BC, when Great Britain was still part of a peninsula of the European continent. Ireland, which became an island by 12,000 BC, was not inhabited until after 8000 BC.The oldest rocks in the group are in the north west of Scotland, Ireland, and North Wales and are 2.7 billion years old.[12] During the Silurian period, the north-western regions collided with the south-east, which had been part of a separate continental landmass. The topography of the islands is modest in scale by global standards. Ben Nevis rises to an elevation of only 1,345 metres (4,413 ft),[6] and Lough Neagh, which is notably larger than other lakes in the island group, covers 390 square kilometres (151 sq mi). The climate is temperate marine, with mild winters and warm summers. The North Atlantic drift brings significant moisture and raises temperatures 11 °C (20 °F) above the global average for the latitude. This led to a landscape which was long dominated by temperate rainforest, althou[13] Great Britain became an island by 5600 BC.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Isles source of information

British Flag/ Union Jack

 blue background, known as the Saltire or St Andrew's Cross), would be joined together, forming the flag of England and Scotland for maritime purposes. King James also began to refer to a "Kingdom of Great Britaine", although the union remained a personal one.

The Union Jack or Union Flag, is the national flag of the United Kingdom. The flag also has a semi-official status in Canada, by parliamentary resolution, where it is known as the Royal Union Flag.^[4] Additionally, it is used as an official flag in some of the smaller British overseas territories.

 The Union Flag also appears in the canton (upper left-hand quarter) of the flags of several nations and territories that are former British possessions or dominions, as well as the state flag of Hawaii.
The claim that the term Union Jack properly refers only to naval usage has been disputed, following historical investigations by the Flag Institute in 2013.^{[5][6][note 2]}The origins of the earlier flag of Great Britain date back to 1606. James VI of Scotland had inherited the English and Irish thrones in 1603 as James I, thereby uniting the crowns of England, Scotland, and Ireland in a personal union, although the three kingdoms remained separate states.
 On 12 April 1606, a new flag to represent this regal union between England and Scotland was specified in a royal decree, according to which the flag of England (a red cross on a white background, known as St George's Cross), and the flag of Scotland.

The present design of the Union Flag dates from a Royal proclamation following the union of Great Britain and Irelandin 1801.^[8] The flag combines aspects of three older national flags: the red cross of St George for the Kingdom of England, the white saltire of St Andrew for Scotland(which two were united in the first Union Flag), and the red saltire of St Patrick to represent Ireland.

Notably, the home country of Wales is not represented separately in the Union Flag, as the flag was designed after the invasion of Wales in 1282. Hence Wales as a home country today has no representation on the flag; it appears under the cross of St George, which represents the former Kingdom of England (which included Wales).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Jack source of information

Union Jack

British Religion

     Religion in the United Kingdom, and in the countries that preceded it, has been dominated for over 1,000 years by various forms of Christianity. Religious affiliations of United Kingdom citizens are recorded by regular surveys, the four major ones being the national decennial census, the Labour Force Survey, the British Social Attitudes survey and the European Social Survey.

According to the 2011 Census, Christianity is the majority religion, followed by Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism, Judaism and Buddhism in terms of number of adherents. Among Christians, Anglicans are the most common denomination, followed by the Catholics, Presbyterians, Methodists and Baptists.

     This, and the relatively large number of individuals with nominal or no religious affiliations, has led commentators to variously describe the United Kingdom as a multi-faith and secularised society.

The United Kingdom was formed by the union of previously independent countries in 1707, and consequently most of the largest religious groups do not have UK-wide organisational structures. While some groups have separate structures for the individual countries of the United Kingdom, others have a single structure covering England and Wales or Great Britain. Similarly, due to the relatively recent creation of Northern Ireland in 1921, most major religious groups in Northern Ireland are organised on an all-Ireland basis.

     While the United Kingdom as a whole has no official religion, the Church of England remains the state church of its largest constituent country, England. The Monarch of the United Kingdom is the Supreme Governor of the Church, and accordingly, only a Protestant may inherit the British throne.

  Christianity (59.5%)

  No religion (25.7%)

  Islam (4.4%)

  Hinduism (1.3%)

The early history of Christianity in Britain is highly obscure. Medieval legends concerning the conversion of the island under King Lucius^[2] or from a mission by St Philip^[4] or Joseph of Arimathea^[6] have been discredited; they seem to have been pious forgeries introduced in attempts to establish independence^[7] or seniority^[5] in the ecclesiastical hierarchy formalized following the Norman conquest of England and Wales. The first archaeological evidence and credible records showing a community large enough to maintain churches and bishops dates to the 3rd and 4th centuries, but it started from a small base: the British delegation to the 353 Council of Rimini had to beg for financial assistance from its fellows in order to return home.^[8] The Romano-British population seem to have been mostly Christian by the Sub-Roman period, although the Great Conspiracy in the 360s and increased raiding around the time of the Roman withdrawal from Britain saw many enslaved. The Saxon invasions of Britain destroyed most of the formal church as they progressed, replacing it with a form of Germanic polytheism. There seems to have been a lull traditionally attributed to the Battle of Badon but, following the arrival of Justinian's Plague around 547, the expansion resumed. By the time Cornwall was subjugated by Wessex at Hingston Down in 838, however, it was largely left to its native people and practices.

Islam is the second largest religion in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, with results from the United Kingdom 2011 Census giving the UK Muslim population in 2011 as 2,786,635, 4.4% of the total population.^[2]The vast majority of Muslims in the United Kingdom live in England: 2,660,116 (5.02% of the population). 76,737 Muslims live in Scotland (1.45%), 45,950 in Wales (1.50%), and 3,832 in Northern Ireland (0.21%). London has the greatest population of Muslims in the country.^[3][4][5]In 2011 it was reported that the United Kingdom could have as many as 100,000 converts to Islam,^[6] of which 66% were women. Islam is the fastest growing religious confession in the UK and its adherents have the lowest average age out of all the major religious groups.^[7] Between 2001 and 2009 the Muslim population increased almost 10 times faster than the non-Muslim population.^[8] The majority of Muslims in United Kingdom belong to the Sunni denomination,^[9]while smaller numbers are Shia. In terms of national heritage, the largest groups of British Muslims are Pakistanis, British Bangladeshi, and British Indians.^[10][11] Smaller groups are Indians, Arabs, Kurds, Turks, Iranians and Africans.

For a specific subregion breakdowns of Hinduism in the United Kingdom, see: Hinduism in England, Hinduism in Scotland, Hinduism in Wales and Hinduism in Northern IrelandHinduism has had a presence in the United Kingdom since the early 19th century, as at the time India was part of the British Empire. According to 2011 Census of England and Wales, 817,000 residents (1.5%) identified themselves as Hindus.^[1]Hindus were the fourth largest religious group in the 2011 Census of the United Kingdom, after Christianity (59%), No Religion (25%), and Islam (5%).^[1] Among those of South Asian origins, Hindus in the United Kingdom (27%) constituted the second largest group after South Asian Muslims (57%), and exceeded South Asian Sikhs (14%) in the 2011 census of the United Kingdom.^[2]There were 101 Hindu temples in the United Kingdom in 2001, compared to 614 Muslim mosques and 193 Sikh temples in 2001.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_the_United_Kingdom source of information

British People

     The British people, or the Britons, are the citizens of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the British Overseas Territories, and the Crown dependencies. British nationality law governs modern British citizenship and nationality, which can be acquired, for instance, by descent from British nationals. When used in a historical context, "British" or "Britons" can refer to the Celtic Britons, the indigenous inhabitants of Great Britain and Brittany, whose surviving members are the modern Welsh people, Cornish people, and Bretons. It may also refer to citizens of the former British Empire.

Though early assertions of being British date from the Late Middle Ages, the creation of the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707 triggered a sense of British national identity.

 The notion of Britishness was forged during the Napoleonic Wars between Britain and the First French Empire, and developed further during the Victorian era. The complex history of the formation of the United Kingdom created a "particular sense of nationhood and belonging" in Great Britain and Ireland; Britishness became "superimposed on much older identities", of English, Scots, Welsh and Irish cultures, whose distinctiveness still resists notions of a homogenised British identity.^[41]Because of longstanding ethno-sectarian divisions, British identity in Northern Ireland is controversial, but it is held with strong conviction by Unionists.\

Modern Britons are descended mainly from the varied ethnic groups that settled in the British Isles in and before the 11th century: Prehistoric, Brittonic, Roman, Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Normans.^[43] The progressive political unification of the British Isles facilitated migration, cultural and linguistic exchange, and intermarriage between the peoples of England, Scotland and Wales during the late Middle Ages, early modern period and beyond.^[44][45] Since 1922 and earlier, there has been immigration to the United Kingdom by people from what is now the Republic of Ireland, the Commonwealth, mainland Europe and elsewhere; they and their descendants are mostly British citizens, with some assuming a British, dual or hyphenated identity.^[46]The British are a diverse, multinational,^[47][48] multicultural and multilingual society, with "strong regional accents, expressions and identities".^[49][50] The social structure of the United Kingdom has changed radically since the 19th century, with a decline in religious observance, enlargement of the middle class, and increased ethnic diversity, particularly since the 1950s. The population of the UK stands at around 66 million,^[51] with a British diaspora of around 140 million concentrated in Australia, Canada and New Zealand, with smaller concentrations in the United States, Republic of Ireland, Chile, South Africa and parts of the Caribbean.^[52]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_people source of information

British Cuisine

British cuisine is the heritage of cooking traditions and practices associated with the United Kingdom. Although Britain has a rich indigenous culinary tradition its colonial history has profoundly enriched its native cooking traditions. British cuisine absorbed the cultural influences of its post-colonial territories – in particular those of South Asia.

In ancient times Celtic agriculture and animal breeding produced a wide variety of foodstuffs for the indigenous Celtsand Britons. Anglo-Saxon England developed meat and savoury herb stewing techniques before the practice became common in Europe. The Norman conquest introduced exotic spices into England in the Middle Ages. The British Empire facilitated a knowledge of Indian cuisine with its "strong, penetrating spices and herbs".

 Food rationingpolicies put into place by the British government during the wartime periods of the 20th century are widely considered today to be responsible for British cuisine's poor international reputation.Well-known traditional British dishes include full breakfast, fish and chips, the Christmas dinner, the Sunday roast, steak and kidney pie, shepherd's pie, and bangers and mash.

 People in Britain however eat a wide variety of foods based on the cuisines of Europe, India, and other parts of the world. British cuisine has many regional varieties within the broader categories of English, Scottish and Welsh cuisine and Northern Irish cuisine. Each has developed its own regional or local dishes, many of which are geographically indicated foods such as Cornish pasties, the Yorkshire pudding, Cumberland Sausage, Arbroath Smokie, and Welsh cakes.
Romano-British agriculture, highly fertile soils and advanced animal breeding produced a wide variety of very high quality foods for indigenous Romano-British people. Anglo-Saxon England developed meat and savoury herb stewing techniques and the Norman conquest reintroduced exotic spices and continental influences back into Great Britain in the Middle Ages[3]as maritime Britain became a major player in the transcontinental spice trade for many centuries after. Following the Protestant Reformation in the 16th and 17th centuries "plain and robust" food remained the mainstay of the British diet, reflecting tastes which are still shared with neighbouring north European countries and traditional North American Cuisine. In the 18th and 19th centuries, as the Colonial British Empire began to be influenced by India's elaborate food tradition of "strong, penetrating spices and herbs", the United Kingdom developed a worldwide reputation[5] for the quality of British beef and pedigree bulls were exported to form the bloodline of major modern beef herds in the New World.[3] Developments in plant breeding produced a multiplicity of fruit and vegetable varieties, with British disease-resistant rootstocks still used globally for fruits such as apples.

During the World Wars of the 20th century difficulties of food supply were countered by official measures, which included rationing. The problem was worse in WWII, and the Ministry of Food was established to address the problems (see Rationing in the United Kingdom).

 Due to the economic problems following the war, rationing continued for some years, and in some aspects was more strict than during wartime. Rationing was not fully lifted until almost a decade after war ended in Europe, so that a whole generation was raised without access to many previously common ingredients. These policies, put in place by the British government during wartime periods of the 20th century,[4] are often blamed for the decline of British cuisine in the 20th century.The last half of the 20th century saw an increase in the availability of a greater range of good quality fresh products and greater willingness by many sections of the British population to vary their diets and select dishes from other cultures such as those of Italy and India.

Efforts have been made to re-introduce pre-20th-century recipes. Ingredients not native to the islands, particularly herbs and spices, are frequently added to traditional dishes (echoing the highly spiced nature of much British food in the medieval era).Much of Modern British cooking also draws heavily on influences from Mediterranean, and more recently, Middle Eastern, South Asian, East Asian and Southeast Asian cuisines. The traditional influence of northern and central European cuisines is significant but fading.

      British cuisine is the heritage of cooking traditions and practices associated with the United Kingdom. Although Britain has a rich indigenous culinary tradition its colonial history has profoundly enriched its native cooking traditions. British cuisine absorbed the cultural influences of its post-colonial territories – in particular those of South Asia.

In ancient times Celtic agriculture and animal breeding produced a wide variety of foodstuffs for the indigenous Celtsand Britons. Anglo-Saxon England developed meat and savoury herb stewing techniques before the practice became common in Europe. The Norman conquest introduced exotic spices into England in the Middle Ages. The British Empire facilitated a knowledge of Indian cuisine with its "strong, penetrating spices and herbs".

 Food rationingpolicies put into place by the British government during the wartime periods of the 20th century are widely considered today to be responsible for British cuisine's poor international reputation.Well-known traditional British dishes include full breakfast, fish and chips, the Christmas dinner, the Sunday roast, steak and kidney pie, shepherd's pie, and bangers and mash.

 People in Britain however eat a wide variety of foods based on the cuisines of Europe, India, and other parts of the world. British cuisine has many regional varieties within the broader categories of English, Scottish and Welsh cuisine and Northern Irish cuisine. Each has developed its own regional or local dishes, many of which are geographically indicated foods such as Cornish pasties, the Yorkshire pudding, Cumberland Sausage, Arbroath Smokie, and Welsh cakes.

Romano-British agriculture, highly fertile soils and advanced animal breeding produced a wide variety of very high quality foods for indigenous Romano-British people. Anglo-Saxon England developed meat and savoury herb stewing techniques and the Norman conquest reintroduced exotic spices and continental influences back into Great Britain in the Middle Ages[3]as maritime Britain became a major player in the transcontinental spice trade for many centuries after. Following the Protestant Reformation in the 16th and 17th centuries "plain and robust" food remained the mainstay of the British diet, reflecting tastes which are still shared with neighbouring north European countries and traditional North American Cuisine. In the 18th and 19th centuries, as the Colonial British Empire began to be influenced by India's elaborate food tradition of "strong, penetrating spices and herbs", the United Kingdom developed a worldwide reputation[5] for the quality of British beef and pedigree bulls were exported to form the bloodline of major modern beef herds in the New World.[3] Developments in plant breeding produced a multiplicity of fruit and vegetable varieties, with British disease-resistant rootstocks still used globally for fruits such as apples.

During the World Wars of the 20th century difficulties of food supply were countered by official measures, which included rationing. The problem was worse in WWII, and the Ministry of Food was established to address the problems (see Rationing in the United Kingdom).

British cuisine is the heritage of cooking traditions and practices associated with the United Kingdom. Although Britain has a rich indigenous culinary tradition its colonial history has profoundly enriched its native cooking traditions. British cuisine absorbed the cultural influences of its post-colonial territories – in particular those of South Asia.

In ancient times Celtic agriculture and animal breeding produced a wide variety of foodstuffs for the indigenous Celtsand Britons. Anglo-Saxon England developed meat and savoury herb stewing techniques before the practice became common in Europe. The Norman conquest introduced exotic spices into England in the Middle Ages. The British Empire facilitated a knowledge of Indian cuisine with its "strong, penetrating spices and herbs".

 Food rationingpolicies put into place by the British government during the wartime periods of the 20th century are widely considered today to be responsible for British cuisine's poor international reputation.Well-known traditional British dishes include full breakfast, fish and chips, the Christmas dinner, the Sunday roast, steak and kidney pie, shepherd's pie, and bangers and mash.

 People in Britain however eat a wide variety of foods based on the cuisines of Europe, India, and other parts of the world. British cuisine has many regional varieties within the broader categories of English, Scottish and Welsh cuisine and Northern Irish cuisine. Each has developed its own regional or local dishes, many of which are geographically indicated foods such as Cornish pasties, the Yorkshire pudding, Cumberland Sausage, Arbroath Smokie, and Welsh cakes.

Romano-British agriculture, highly fertile soils and advanced animal breeding produced a wide variety of very high quality foods for indigenous Romano-British people. Anglo-Saxon England developed meat and savoury herb stewing techniques and the Norman conquest reintroduced exotic spices and continental influences back into Great Britain in the Middle Ages[3]as maritime Britain became a major player in the transcontinental spice trade for many centuries after. Following the Protestant Reformation in the 16th and 17th centuries "plain and robust" food remained the mainstay of the British diet, reflecting tastes which are still shared with neighbouring north European countries and traditional North American Cuisine. In the 18th and 19th centuries, as the Colonial British Empire began to be influenced by India's elaborate food tradition of "strong, penetrating spices and herbs", the United Kingdom developed a worldwide reputation[5] for the quality of British beef and pedigree bulls were exported to form the bloodline of major modern beef herds in the New World.[3] Developments in plant breeding produced a multiplicity of fruit and vegetable varieties, with British disease-resistant rootstocks still used globally for fruits such as apples.

During the World Wars of the 20th century difficulties of food supply were countered by official measures, which included rationing. The problem was worse in WWII, and the Ministry of Food was established to address the problems (see Rationing in the United Kingdom).

 Due to the economic problems following the war, rationing continued for some years, and in some aspects was more strict than during wartime. Rationing was not fully lifted until almost a decade after war ended in Europe, so that a whole generation was raised without access to many previously common ingredients. These policies, put in place by the British government during wartime periods of the 20th century,[4] are often blamed for the decline of British cuisine in the 20th century.

The last half of the 20th century saw an increase in the availability of a greater range of good quality fresh products and greater willingness by many sections of the British population to vary their diets and select dishes from other cultures such as those of Italy and India.

Efforts have been made to re-introduce pre-20th-century recipes. Ingredients not native to the islands, particularly herbs and spices, are frequently added to traditional dishes (echoing the highly spiced nature of much British food in the medieval era).

Much of Modern British cooking also draws heavily on influences from Mediterranean, and more recently, Middle Eastern, South Asian, East Asian and Southeast Asian cuisines. The traditional influence of northern and central European cuisines is significant but fading.

 Due to the economic problems following the war, rationing continued for some 

T

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_cuisine source of information