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History of Britain - timeline and facts
Woodlands Junior School is in the south-east corner of England
Timeline of the Kings and Queens History of London History of the Union Flag Thousands of years ago, Great Britain was joined to Europe and was covered with ice. About 15,000 years ago, the weather became warmer. The ice melted and the sea level rose. Great Britain became an island about 8000 years ago. Celtic people called Britons settles in Britain. They were warriors and farmers who were skilled metal workers. They built villages and hill forts, and used iron weapons and tools. Celts called Gaels lived in Ireland. Prehistoric Britain BC Roman Britain 43 AD Anglo Saxon Britain 450 Viking Britain 793 Medieval Britain 1066 Tudor Britain 1485 Stuart Britain 1603 Georgian Britain 1714 Victorian Britain 1837 Modern Britain 1902 + King and Queens of England Romans Saxons Vikings Normans Tudors Victorians WW ll 43 450 793 1066 1485 1837 1939 Prehistoric Britain The first men and women came to Britain over two and a half million years ago. They were hunters and gatherers of food who used simple stone tools and weapons. BC Britain Abroad 500,000 People migrate to Britain from Europe.   6500 The land bridge joining Britain to Europe is flooded as the sea level rises. Britain becomes an Island.   3000 New Stone Age begins: farming people arrive from Europe.   3000 First stone circles erected.   2100 Bronze Age begins   2150 People learn to make bronze weapons and tools   2000 Stonehenge completed   1650 Trade routes begin to form   1200 Small Villages are first formed   750 Iron Age begins: iron replaces bronze as most useful metal. Population about 150,000.   500 The Celtic people arrive from Central Europe. The Celts were farmers and lived in small village groups in the centre of their arable fields. They were also warlike people. The Celts fought against the people of Britain and other Celtic tribes.   Romans Saxons Vikings Normans Tudors Victorians WW ll 43 450 793 1066 1485 1837 1939 Roman Britain The Romans were the first to invade us and came to Britain nearly 2000 years ago. They changed our country. The Roman Empire made its mark on Britain, and even today, the ruins of Roman buildings, forts, roads, and baths can be found all over Britain. Britain was part of the Roman Empire for almost 400 years! By the time the Roman armies left around 410 AD, they had established medical practice, a language of administration and law and had created great public buildings and roads. Many English words are derived from the latin language of the Romans. Click here to find out more about the Romans in Britain. Britain Abroad 55 BC Julius Caesar heads first Roman Invasion but later withdraws   44 BC   44 BC Julius Caesar is murdered in Rome AD 30   30 Jesus Crucified 43 Romans invade and Britain becomes part of the Roman Empire   50 London Founded   61 Boadicea leads the Iceni in revolt against the Romans   70 Romans conquer Wales and the North     76 The Emperor Hadrian is born 80   80 The Colosseum of Rome completed 122 - 128 Emperor Hadrian builds a wall on the Scottish Border   140 Romans conquer Scotland   209 St Alban becomes the 1st Christian martyr   306 Constantine the Great declared Emperor at York   350 The Picts and Scots attack the border   401 - 410 The Romans withdraw from Britain: Anglo Saxons migrants begin to Settle   Click here for Information on the Romans Romans Saxons Vikings Normans Tudors Victorians WW ll 43 450 793 1066 1485 1837 1939 Anglo-Saxon Britain The Roman army left Britain about AD 410. When they had gone there was no strong army to defend Britain, and tribes called the Angle, Saxon, and Jute (the Anglo-Saxons) invaded. They left their homelands in northern Germany, Denmark and northern Holland and rowed across the North Sea in wooden boats. The Anglo-Saxons ruled most of Britain but never conquered Cornwall in the south-west, Wales in the west, or Scotland in the north. They divided the country into kingdoms. Missionaries from Roman spread Christianity across southern Britain. Read more about the Saxons on our Homework Help pages 450 - 750 Invasion of the Jutes from Jutland, Angles from South of Denmark and Saxons from Germany. Britain is divided up into the Seven Kingdoms of Northumbria, Mercia, Wessex, Essex, Sussex and Kent. 450 Saxons Hengist and Horsa settle in Kent. 460 St Patrick returns to convert Ireland 510 The Battle of Mount Badon: British victory over the Saxons 597 St Augustine brings Christianity to Britain from Rome and becomes Archbishop of Canterbury 617 Northumbria becomes the Supreme Kingdom 779 Mercia becomes the Supreme Kingdom and King Offa builds a Dyke along the Welsh Border Click here for Information on the Saxons Romans Saxons Vikings Normans Tudors Victorians WW ll 43 450 793 1066 1485 1837 1939   Viking Britain The Viking Age in Britain began about 1,200 years ago in the 8th Century AD and lasted for 300 years. Read more .... 793 First invasion by the Vikings 821 Wessex becomes the Supreme Kingdom 866 - 77 Invasion of the Great Danish (Viking) Army. 867 The Vikings take Northumbria 871 King Alfred defeats the Vikings but allows them to settle in Eastern England 886 The North subjected to the Danelaw, the rules of the Vikings 889 The Anglo Saxon Chronicle starts 926 Eastern England (Danelaw) is conquered by the Saxons 1016 King Canute of Denmark captures the English Crown 1042 Edward the Confessor becomes King 1055 Westminster Abbey is completed Click here for Information on the Vikings Romans Saxons Vikings Normans Tudors Victorians WW ll 43 450 793 1066 1485 1837 1939 The Middle Ages - Medieval Britain (Normans) The Middle Ages in Britain cover a huge period. They take us from the shock of the Norman Conquest, which began in 1066, to the devasting Black Death of 1348, the Hundred Years' War with France and the War of the Roses, which finally ended in 1485. The Normans built impressive castles, imposed a feudal system and carried out a census of the country. 1066 The Battle of Stamford Bridge: Saxon victory over invading Vikings 1066 The Battle of Hastings: The invading Normans defeat the Saxons William of Normandy defeats Harold with a lucky shot and becomes King of England - Norman Conquest 1070 Work starts on Canterbury Cathedral 1078 Work starts on The Tower of London 1080 - 1100 Great monastery and cathedral building begins 1086 The Domesday Book is compiled, a complete inventory of Britain 1154 Work starts on York Minster 1167 Oxford University Founded 1170 Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas a Becket is murdered by the knights of Henry II 1170 Population of London exceeds 30,000 for the first time 1174 Work starts on Wells Cathedral 1215 Civil War 1215 The Magna Carta is signed by King John 1220 Work starts on Salisbury 1282 - 1283 King Edward conquers Wales. Llewellyn ab Gruffydd, the country's last prince is killed 1296 King Edward invades Scotland and takes the Stone of Destiny from Scone to Westminster 1297 The Battle of Stirling Bridge The Scots under William Wallace defeat the English 1298 The Battle of Falkirk. King Edward defeats Wallace. 1306 Robert Bruce crowned King of the Scots 1314 Scots led by Robert the Bruce defeat the English at the battle of Bannockburn 1321-22 Civil War 1337 King Edward claims the Throne of France 1337 - 1453 Hundred Years' War with France 1348 - 49 The Black Death (bubonic plague) arrived in England and killed nearly half of the population 1387 Geoffrey Chaucer starts writing the Canterbury Tales 1415 English defeat the French at the battle of Agincourt 1453 The Hundred Years War against France ends 1455 Civil War: The War of the Roses starts Click here for Information on the Normans Romans Saxons Vikings Normans Tudors Victorians WW ll 43 450 793 1066 1485 1837 1939 Tudor Britain The Tudors were a Welsh-English family that ruled England from 1485 to 1603 - one of the most exciting periods of British history. Henry VIII's matrimonial difficulties led to the split with Catholicism. Henry made himself head of the Church of England. Read more about Tudor Britain.... 1485 The War of the Roses ends at the Battle of Bosworth. Henry Vll crowned king. 1497 John Cabot sails from Bristol aboard the 'Matthew' and discovers North America 1509 - 1547 Henry Vlll succeeds to the throne 1513 English defeat the Scots at the Battle of Flodden 1534 Henry VIII forms the 'Church of England'. Henry is confirmed as 'Supreme Head of the Church of England 'following a parliamentary Act of Supremacy 1536 Act of Union joins England and Wales 1536 - 39 Destruction or closure of 560 monasteries and religious houses 1542 Mary, Queen of Scots lays claim to the English throne 1558 Elizabeth I begins her 45 year reign 1570 Sir Francis Drake sets sail for his first voyage to the West Indies 1587 Queen Elizabeth I executes Mary, Queen of Scots 1588 The English defeat the Spanish Armada 1591 First performance of a play by William Shakespeare 1600 First British involvement in the Indian continent - East India Company formed. Population of Britain just over 4 million Click here for Information on the Tudors   Stuart Britain The Stuarts had ruled Scotland since 1371, but James VI of Scotland was the first Stuart king of England. 1603 James VI of Scotland becomes James I of England uniting the two kingdoms 1605 Guy Fawkes is thwarted when he tries to blow up Parliament. 1606 The Union Flag adopted as the National Flag 1620 The Pilgrim Fathers set sail for New England from Plymouth, aboard the 'Mayflower' 1624-30 War with Spain 1626-9 War with France 1629 Parliament dissolved by King Charles 1642 - 1651 Civil War 1649 King Charles executed 1649-1650 Cromwell's conquest of Ireland 1650 - 1652 Cromwell's conquest of Scotland 1652 Tea arrives in Britain 1653 Cromwell proclaimed Lord Protector 1660 Restoration of the Monarchy under King Charles II 1664-1665 The Great Plague breaks out and up to 100,000 people die in London 1666 Great Fire of London 1689 English Bill of rights 1689 From now on England's monarchs would rule in partnership with Parliament. All Catholics barred from the English throne. 1692 William III massacres the Jacobites at Glencoe 1707 Act of Union between Scotland and England. The Scottish parliament was dissolved and England and Scotland became one country.   Georgian Britain In 1714 the British throne passed to a German family, the Hanoverians. 1714 George of Hanover, Germany succeeds Queen Anne to the Throne 1721 Sir Robert Walpole becomes the first Prime Minister 1746 Bonnie Prince Charlie is defeated at the Battle of Culloden 1757 First canal in Britain is completed 1776 America declares independence from Britain  1780's Industrial Revolution Begins 1783 Steam powered cotton mill invented by Sir Richard Arkwright 1788 First convict ships are sent to Australia  1796 Edward Jenner invented a vaccination against small pox 1800 Act of Union with Ireland  1801 The first census. Population of Britain 8 million Ireland made part of the United Kingdom  1804  Richard Trevithick built the first steam locomotive 1805 Lord Nelson defeats Napoleon at the Battle of Trafalgar 1807 Abolition of Slave Trade 1815 Duke of Wellington defeats Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo 1825 World's first railway opens between Stockton and Darlington  1829 Robert Peel set up the Metropolitan Police force  1834 The Poor Law set up workhouses, where people without homes or jobs could live in return for doing unpaid work. Romans Saxons Vikings Normans Tudors Victorians WW ll 43 450 793 1066 1485 1837 1939 Victorian Britain xThe Victorians lived over one hundred and fifty years ago during the reign of Queen Victoria (1837 to 1901) and was a time of enormous change in this country. In 1837 most people lived in villages and worked on the land; by 1901, most lived in towns and worked in offices, shops and factories. Read more ..... 1837 Queen Victoria becomes Queen at the age of 18 1840 The first postage stamps (Penny Post) came into use 1842 Mines Act ended child labour 1845 - 1849 Ireland suffered the Great Potato Famine when entire crops of potatoes, the staple Irish food, were ruined. The famine was a consequence of the appearance of blight, the potato fungus. About 800,000 people died as a result of the famine. A large number of people migrated to Britain, the United States, Canada and Australia. 1850s The first post boxes were built 1851 The Great Exhibition Census showed just over half of Britain's population (of 20 million) lived in towns 1854 Crimean War 1854 A cholera epidemic led to demands for a clean water supply and proper sewage systems in the big cities 1856 Britain defeats Russia in the Crimean War 1860 The first public flushing toilet opens 1861 Death of Prince Albert 1863 London Underground opens The foundation of the Football Association 1868 Joseph Lister discovers disinfectant 1868 The last public hanging 1869 The first Sainsbury's shop open in Dury Lane, London 1870 Education Act means school for everyone 1871 Queen Victoria opens the Albert Hall 1876 Alexander Bell invented the telephone Primary education was made compulsory 1877 The first public electric lighting in London 1883 First electric railway 1887  The invention of the gramophone 1891 Free education for every child 1901 Population of Britain 40 million Click here for Information on the Victorian   Modern Britain 1902 Britain defeats Dutch settlers in Boer War in South Africa  1902 The first old age pension  1914 - 1918 First World War Compulsory military service and food rationing introduced 1920  Republic of Ireland gains independence 1937 Sir Frank Whittle invents the Jet Engine 1939 - 1945 The Second World War 1951 Festival of Britain 1952 Elizabeth II becomes Queen 1953 Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II 1973 Britain joins the European Community 1979 Margaret Thatcher becomes Britain's first woman prime minister 1982 Falklands War 1991 Gulf War 1991 Sir Tim Berners Lee invents the World Wide Web 1994 Channel Tunnel links Britain back to the European continent 1999  Welsh national assembly and Scottish parliament 2003 The Second Gulf War 2003 England Wins the Rugby World Cup Click here for Information on Britain Since 1930s
Learn about England and the other countries in Britain from the children who live in ther

© Copyright 2011 Mandy Barrow
Woodlands Junior School, Hunt Road Tonbridge Kent TN10 4BB UK