Culture UK
Who are the British? Do they really drink tea, eat roast beef and Yorkshire pudding and never leave home without an umbrella? Find out more about true Brits; past and present, myth and legend, fact and fiction.
A Good Death – An Early Modern Obsession
In Early Modern England, the deathbed was a spiritual drama, a battle for the dying individual’s soul between the forces of God and the demons of Satan. If the individual died well, peacefully, with family and priest, then salvation was assumed to be theirs. A bad death, alone or in agony or without a holy man’s sacrament, was to be avoided at all cost…
Assembly Rooms
Fans of Jane Austen will be well acquainted with that hub of the Georgian social scene, the Assembly Rooms…
The Moustache to Rule Them All
Is it more than a coincidence that the rise and fall of Empire coincides with the rise and fall in popularity of the moustache? Between 1860 and 1916, Kings Regulations decreed that every soldier in the British Army was forbidden to shave his upper lip…
Samuel Pepys and His Diary
Samuel Pepys is best known for his diaries, written between 1660 and 1671, and his eyewitness accounts of major events such as the coronation of Charles II, the Great Fire of London and the Great Plague…
Lancelot Capability Brown
Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown is single-handedly responsible for changing the landscape of 18th century England, creating magical gardens and vistas that we still enjoy today.
The Folklore Year – February
The Folklore Year – traditional folklore and culture of Britain, events taking place every year in February
Eve of St Agnes
January 20th is the Eve of St Agnes, traditionally the night when girls and unmarried women wishing to dream of…
A 1960s Christmas
Christmas in the 1960s was in many respects quite similar to Christmas celebrations in the 21st century: family gatherings, laughter and fun. But whereas today the celebrations are often centred around the presents and multimedia, in the 1960s Christmas was much more homespun.
