BRITAIN BEFORE AND AFTER ROMAN EMPIRE RESEARCH:
British Housing Timeline
Tudor – 1485 – 1603
The Tudor house was defined by its Tudor arch and oriel windows. The Tudor period was the first period to move away from the medieval style houses and was more like a timber framed country house. Today Tudor houses are all listed building and highly sought after due to there location and the amount of space and history involved. Tudor houses are an expensive housing option so be prepared for the financial layout and upkeep costs. If that doesn’t put you off then buying a Tudor house could be a great investment and opportunity to keep English heritage alive.
Elizabethan – 1550 -1625
Elizabethan houses can be recognised by their large vertical timber frames that are often supported by diagonal beams. The Elizabethan style houses were similar to medieval style houses. These houses were built sturdy to last through the age. The houses were built by the middle class are are today listed building.
Jacobean – 1603 – 1625
The Jacobean style gets its name from King James 1 of England who reigned at the time. The Jacobean style in England follows the Elizabethan style and is the second phase of Renaissance architecture. May Jacobean houses were very large both inside and out with large rooms for family living. Common features included columns and pilasters, arches and archades. These features were to create a sense of grandeur. There are many Jacobean style houses on the market today if your lucky enough to be able to afford one.
Stuart – 1603 – 1714
One of the most common period property types for country houses. This period house boasted elegant exteriors with sash windows, high ceiling and spacious rooms. The outside was commonly bare brick and flat fronted.
English Baroque – 1702 – 1714
During this period houses were decorated with arches, columns and sculptures and took many features and characteristics from the continent. The interiors were very exuberant with artwork and ornaments in all rooms main rooms
Palladian – 1715 -1770
The Palladian era started in 1715 and these types of houses are characterised by symmetry and classic forms, more plain than other eras however on the inside houses were lavish and often had elaborate decorations
Georgian – 1714 – 1837
The Georgian house was styled with rigid symmetry, the most common Georgian house was built with brick with window decorative headers and hip roofs. The Georgian house period started and got its name due to the 4 successive kings being named George.
Regency – 1811 – 1820
The Regency housing style was common among the upper and middle classes from 1811 to 1820 the houses were typically built in brick and then covered in painted plaster. The plaster was carefully moulded to produce elegant decorative touches to give the exterior of the house more elegance.
Victorian – 1837 – 1910
Very common even today especially in London. A Victorian house in general refers to any house build during the reign of Queen Victoria. The main features of a Victoria house are roofs made of slate with sash windows and patters in the brick work that are made using different colour bricks. Stained Glass windows and doors were also a common feature as were bay windows
Edwardian – 1901 -1910
Edwardian architecture got its name during the reign of King Edward from 1901 – 1910. These types of houses were generally built in a straight line with red brick. Edwardian houses typically had wooden frame porches and wide hallways. The rooms inside were wider and brighter moving away from the older style houses that were more gothic. Parquet wood floors and simple internal decoration was common also.
The Wabanaki People
The Wabanaki people are a group of Native Americans that originated from the Eastern United States and the Maritimes region of Canada. The Wabanaki or the “people of the dawn” are comprised of five tribes. These tribes are the Micmac, Passamaquoddy, Penobscot, Maliseet and the Abenaki. Today, four of these tribes are found in various regions across Maine and eastern Canada. The Wabanaki people were considered to be the first Americans before Europeans landed on the continent in search of “The New World.” At first, the Natives were often seen as stand-offish assuming that the Europeans were there to drive Natives off their land. Later on, Natives seemed to open up to the Europeans, most importantly the French settlers. The Natives often quarreled with the English over the years, setting off a series of wars over the course of a century.
The Wabanaki people were separated into different tribes as the Europeans made landfall in Maine in the 1600s, as documented by French explorer Samuel de Champlain. The Penobscot Tribe originated from the central part of Maine. The Penobscot tribe is centralized in the present-day Bangor, Maine area. The Passamaquoddy tribe originated from eastern Canada, but establishes a presence along the Gulf of Maine and the St. Croix River. The Micmac or “Mikmaq” and Maliseet tribes both originated from the Maritimes and have significant populations in northern Maine, Atlantic Canada, and Quebec. The Abenaki has over 12,000 in existence across northern New England and parts of New Brunswick and Quebec.
The Wabanaki people were oral historians. Though very little written records noting their existence, the Wabanaki often told stories of their history to others. Many of their historical stories were based on one main character, Gluscap. Gluscap is considered to be a prophet, perhaps a god of the Wabanaki. According to the Wabanaki, Gluscap created the people by shooting an arrow into an ash tree. As a result, the people emerged from the trees. However, stories of Gluscap often differ between tribes.
The Wabanki people were often ambivalent towards European settlers when they arrived as early as the 17th century. One of the first notable explorers was Giovanni de Verrazano . When Verrazano made land fall in America, he encountered the Natives. The Natives believed that the Europeans were taking land from them without any form of consent. Since the incident with Verrazano, the Natives remained aloof with European explorers. The Natives began to develop a relationship with the French. The French often traded with Natives, and in return lived with the Natives and learned their culture and way of life. However, the Natives did not develop a good relationship with the British.
The British came to the Americas with the mindset that the land was never discovered and therefore was considered free to take. This often lead to a series of wars between the Natives and British colonists. One war took place in parts of New England known as the “King Phillip’s War.” Over 600 colonists and 3000 Natives were killed, including King Phillip, best known as “Metacom.” Natives would continue to lose more of their own people due to war and even diseases.
Scores of Natives were killed off due to diseases that were often carried by European explorers. Though Europeans had the medicine to ward off illnesses and diseases, the Natives lack the technology and medicine to treat them. Among the illnesses affecting the tribes was smallpox, typhoid, spotted fever and measles.
Post-Roman Britain
The England of King Arthur and Britain’s Own Culture
Roman Britain was an area under the rule of the Roman Empire that was unlike the rest of the Western half. The British Isles were not conquered until later and they were not under the influence of the Roman Empire for very long, as opposed to the rest of mainland Europe that would be subject to Roman rule for quite some time. Because Roman influence did not last long in Britain, the culture of the Romans did not have the same staying power that it did in the other lands it conquered. Anglo-Saxon tribes would have a much more significant impact on the cultural development in Britain than the Romans did. Evidence of this is English as a Germanic language as opposed to French, Portuguese, Spanish, or Italian that speak the Romance languages derived from Roman Latin.
There was a void created when the Roman army drew back across the English Channel and into mainland Europe, and this vacuum allowed for the influence of other groups, specifically the Jutes of Denmark and Germanic groups the Saxons and the Angles. Early influence of these three groups was largely raids in the early 600s. These raids led to settlements in Britain, and by the beginning of the 5th century the Germanic tribes had taken control of current-day south east England, though their control did not extend outside of what is presently England. British resistance, the remaining Romans and the indigenous Britons, failed. One of the British generals who was able to secure a victory against the Germanic barbarians around 500 AD at the Battle of Mons Badonicus, Mount Badon, is said by future generations to have been the great legend King Arthur, if he ever existed.
Almost all remnants of Roman England were lost during the 5th and 6th centuries, where Anglo-Saxon society flourished. The British economy under British rule diminished, and the economy before the Roman conquest took place. The barter system replaced monetary values, as the Roman style of money was no longer accepted. Roman culture disappeared as the towns and villas established by the Roman army and people were abandoned and disappeared. This was also the first time the use of the word “England” came into use (derived from the land of the Angles). The Germanic language became the spoken vernacular in England as Romance languages disappeared with the Romans. Perhaps the most important aspect of Roman culture that disappeared was the monotheistic religion Christianity. The Anglo-Saxon paganism replaced Christianity, and it was rarely found outside of the Celts that practiced it on the outskirts and outside of England itself.
Missionaries came back to England after the 6th century to convert the Anglo-Saxon pagans to Christianity. A monk named Augustine was one of these missionaries sent to England, sent by Pope Gregory the Great himself, though he did not experience a great amount of success. Because Celts continued practicing religion, Irish missionaries also began spending time in England. It wasn’t until the mid 660s that the kings of the Germanic tribes began to accept Christianity formally and it was practiced by their subjects. The conversion to Christianity produced great results, as the literacy among the subjects greatly increased and lands soon began to urbanize. The use of monetary assets also returned along with literacy and Christianity, though because Roman Britain had been phased out, the culture that returned was something unique.
The Legacy of the Romans in Bath, England
We all know the rich and lavish architectural taste of the great Romans. When Romans invaded the Britain way back in A.D 43, they started building the robust monuments which they were famous for. Many churches, Museums, Villas, statues and many more structures were constructed.
The early Romans had a very smart idea of building the resort spas for their luxury and relaxation. With this idea in mind, Romans started searching the best place in Europe that can be suitable for baths. They finally found a place which is surrounded by hills and a river (Avon) was flowing through the valley of the hills. But the question here is, How can they manage to worm up the water for Spas (baths)?
It is a natural wonder that the water gets heated up due to the Geo thermal nature of water when the water falls from high altitudes. The same natural phenomenon happened in the described place which is most suitable for the worm water resort spas. Early Romans named it as the Aquae Sulis (“The water of Sulis”) which is the modern day city in the United Kingdom named as the Bath England Hotels or the Bath city.
The Bath city has the world’s most renowned and best in class historic monuments like Roman Baths, Bath Abbey, Thermae bath spa, the Royal Crescent, the Circus and Pulteney Bridge. The Bath City took perfect shapes over the centuries under the greatest dynasties of Romans, Georgian, Norman and the British kingdom. It has now become one of the largest cities in the United Kingdom and around 3.8 million day visitors every year.
In the early 20th Century, the baths have been renovated with the latest technology as the baths have been shattered by the floods, winds, world war and so on. Tourism is the principle industry for the Bath city and there are so many service related industries coming up which lead to greater job opportunities. The Bath England Hotels became one of the best fashionable living places in the modern world and there is an exclusive museum for fashion artifacts called “Fashion Museum”.
In the end, The Bath England Hotels or the Bath city was inscribed in the “World Heritage site” by UNESCO because of it’s amazing historic marvels carved all over the city.
