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Castles & Cathedrals Many castles and cathedrals were built in Britain after the Norman conquest in The Normans came from northern France and often employed highly skilled Flemish masons to build their castles and cathedrals. During the reign of Edward the Confessor, Westminster Abbey was built by his Norman Archbishop of Canterbury, Robert of Jumieges. Edward had also been brought up in Normandy.

The Monarchy Richard I or ‘Richard the Lionheart’ was brought up in France. During his 10 year reign Richard only spent 6 months in England. He was even buried in France. It was not until 1399 that England had a king (Henry IV) who spoke English as his first language). Monarchs before and after Richard came from different parts of Europe. King Cnut was Scandinavian, William of Orange was Dutch, George I was German. Queen Victoria had German ancestors, married a German prince (Prince Albert of Saxe- Coburg and Gotha) and spoke German at home.

English Beer, English Landscapes Half of the early ‘English’ breweries were German or Dutch owned and even the English ones relied on foreign mixers and coopers. It was the Dutch who introduced the hops to Kent from which traditional English beer is made. The Fens were drained and turned into agricultural land by Cornelius Vermuyden, a Dutch engineer. Vermuyden was employed by James I and Charles I to drain the marshy Thames estuary near Dagenham and the Fens.

The ‘traditional’ British Christmas (St Nicklaus, decorated fir trees, wrapped gifts, candles and carols such as ‘Silent Night’ and ‘Good King Wenceslas’) was introduced from Germany and made popular by Prince Albert and Queen Victoria. The Traditional British Christmas

The Traditional British Breakfast Bacon and sausages, key parts of the traditional ‘British breakfast’, were introduced by German butchers during the 18th century.

Typically British Shops Michael Marks left a small town in Polish Russia in Like many Jews at the time he was leaving an area where Jews were increasingly being attacked and persecuted. When he arrived in Britain he spoke very little English and he had very little money. However, he saved enough money to buy his own stall at Leeds market, where all goods were sold for a penny. Marks opened similar stalls in other towns before going into partnership with Thomas Spencer in Marks and Spencer had been born and by 1903 there were 40 shops across northern England.

Dr Thomas Barnardo was a Jewish Dubliner who came to London in He became a teacher at one of the East End’s ‘free schools’ and saw the awful conditions in which many children lived. In 1877 he bought two British Charities warehouses in Mile End and turned them into what would become one of the biggest schools in London – with over a thousand children. As well as being taught children were given breakfast and dinner as well. By the time he died in 1905, Barnardo’s schools had educated over 50,000 children. His orphanages had housed 12,000 more.