Besides royal family, are there aspects of modern Britain that go back 1000 years?

Question

For example, are there festivals in England, Scotland, Wales that involve readings of Beowolf or poetry clubs where people read in Old and Middle English?

Or songs that were sung not as in Gilbert and Sullivan, but from the 14th century?

Are there courses at Oxford and Cambridge that give you in depth perspective on the Jutes or Britons but not just that they existed, but attributes of their culture?

Does the UK have archaeological projects where people try to find artifacts of 1000 years ago, maybe hidden under a castle?

What part of the UK has some of the oldest remnants of an earlier and younger England or Scotlans?

And lastly, in Parliamentary debates, are there phrases or procedures in place that go back farther in history than the formation of the U.S.?

Answer 1

There are places that do perform Beowulf and other ancient poetry/stories--I have attended such myself at the ancient technology centre in Dorset. There are others. Usually the stories are translated into modern English, though, as very few today can understand Anglo-Saxon!

The Xmas Carols 'The Holly and the Icy' and 'Deck the Halls' both have medieval roots.

You can take archaeology and anthropology courses, or attend specialised lectures, covering the various cultures of ancient and medieval britain.

Archaeology is all around us in the UK. Digs go on all the time. I was on one last summer. the site I was digging was far older than 1000 years--the finds were between 1500 and 8000 years old,with most coming from the bronze and iron ages.

The oldest settlements are mesolithic, like Star Carr (I don't think there's much to see there though). However, there are thousands of remains from the neolithic and bronze ages--huge stone-lined burial mounds, stone circles and standing stone, round barrows--and also massive hillforts from the Iron Age. And lots of Roman remains too,such as Hadrian's Wall and the Roman baths in Bath. From early medieval times, you do get a few Saxon churches remaining, but most were modified in appearance in Norman times or later in the medieval period.There are still hundreds of castles around dating between the time of the conquest in 1066 through to the 1400's when they started become more like fortified homes.

Thge whole idea of Parliament comes from long before the US. Parliaments were held at moot mounds by both Saxons and vikings.

Answer 2

The Royal family do not go back 1000 years any more than your family go back that far.. Cromwell got.rid of the Royal Family in the 17th Century. There was no British Royal Family until 1603 anyway.

Before that, Scotland was a separate country.



There is almost nothing left that is 1000 years old.



I can only think of historic sites such as Skara Brae, Hadrian's Wall and Stonehenge and all the remains of tombs, temples and hill forts. Plus a few Saxon churches.



So, in answer, there are some Saxon churches which are still in use today. That makes these buildings over 1000 years old and still in use today! Obviously, Christianity, Psalms, Bible and liturgy, go way back.



For example. see. http://www.escombsaxonchurch.com/



The oldest institution? Probably the Tynwald. See http://www.tynwald.org.im/



Many institutions, and old public buildings in Britain date back to the Norman conquest in 1066. The Normans were great builders.

Answer 3

How about the Spencer-Churchills? I've heard of the Russells but the Churchills also include one of Britain's few dukes; Winston Churchill, voted the greatest Briton of all time; one current MP and another MP until the 1990s; one of the present Ladies of the Garter (WSC's daughter); and their cousin Diana, Princess of Wales. Blenheim Palace remains a popular tourist attraction, though the heir to the dukedom went to jail in the 1990s and had a drug problem, so their future might not be so bright. EDIT: Other strong contenders would be the Stanleys, which includes the premier Earl of England, a 19th c prime minister (who refused a dukedom), and gave Canada its hockey championship (still in use); or the Cecils, still super-rich and whose role in politics run from Elizabeth I's time, include thrice-prime minister Lord Salisbury, and continued until the 1990s, when Lord Cranborne was in the cabinet. They also had a Nobel peace prize winner.

Answer 4

Buildings, Yew trees in the Kingley Vale National Nature Reserve (north of Chichester West Sussex),

the geological structure of the country, the ancient paths that criss cross the countryside, the rings of stones such as Stonehenge and Avebury (Wiltshire), remains of Roman roads found in various parts of the countryside. Off as Dyke that marks the boundary between Wales and England and is still clearly visible

Answer 5

The houses

Answer 6

Alcohol!!!!